The replicative intermediate molecule of bovine viral diarrhoea virus contains multiple nascent strands

Summary The replication of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) RNA is considered to involve replicative intermediates (RI) and replicative forms (RF) of virus RNA. These RNA species were radiolabelled metabolically by 3 H-uridine in BVDV-infected cells and separated by sucrose gradient centrifugation. RNA in the fractions was then digested with RNase A in high salt (2 × SSC) and the RNase-resistance was determined. Using the Baltimore formula, this led to the calculation that the RI of BVDV contained 6–7 nascent strands on the template. This suggests that the structure of the BVDV RI is similar to that of poliovirus and dengue 2 virus.