In vitro Translation of the Double-stranded RNA Genome from Beet Cryptic Virus 1

The double-stranded RNA genome of beet cryptic virus 1 (BCV 1) has been translated, after denaturation, in a wheat germ cell-free system. Two major polypeptides, of approximate M_r 52000 and 67000, were produced. The smaller polypeptide, encoded by RNA 2 (M_r 1.15 x 10⁶), was immunoprecipitated by an antiserum against virus particles, and is therefore likely to be the coat protein; the larger polypeptide, encoded by RNA 1 (M_r 1.36 x 10⁶), is a likely candidate for the viral transcriptase. These two proteins represent most of the coding capacity of the BCV 1 genome (88% for RNA 1 and 82% for RNA 2), thus BCV 1 RNAs seem to act as monocistronic genes.