VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Effect of Ethidium Bromide and Acridine Orange on the In Vitro Synthesis of Bromegrass Mosaic Virus RNA. M. Barreto, Laboratoire de Pathologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, 5800 Gembloux, Belgium; J. Kummert(2) and J. Semal(3). (2)(3)Laboratoire de Pathologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, 5800 Gembloux, Belgium. Phytopathology 67:1017-1020. Accepted for publication 18 February 1977. Copyright © 1977 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-67-1017.

The effect of ethidium bromide and acridine orange on the in vitro synthesis of bromegrass mosaic virus (BMV) RNA was investigated by measuring the incorporation of [³H] uridine-5’-monophosphate into BMV-RNA replicative form by a crude RNA polymerase preparation from infected barley leaves. At the concentration of 100 μg/ml, both dyes strongly inhibited the synthesis of the “plus” strand of BMV-RNA. Using the same experimental system, formycin B at the concentration of 100 μg/ml had no effect, although it is a very active inhibitor of BMV synthesis in vivo. Ethidium bromide also inhibited the in vitro synthesis of cellular single-stranded RNA by a comparable fraction from healthy leaves.