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The Detection of Low Concentrations of Double-Stranded Ribonucleic Acid with Iodine-125 Labeled Antiserum. Charles A. Powell, Former Research Associate, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, Present address of senior author: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120; Cleora J. D’Arcy(2), and G. A. de Zoeten(3). (2)(3)Graduate Student, and Professor, respectively, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706. Phytopathology 68:962-966. Accepted for publication 23 November 1977. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-962.

Antiserum prepared against double-stranded (ds) RNA poly I·poly C reacted in Ouchterlony double-diffusion tests with poly I·poly C (titer = 1:16) and poly A·poly U (titer = 1.8), but not with yeast RNA or calf thymus DNA. The antiserum also removed the poly I·poly C zone from centrifuged sucrose density gradients. When the antiserum against poly I·poly C was labeled with ¹²⁵ I and added to varying concentrations of poly I·poly C, it detected as little as 10 ng in 0.01 ml of buffer. This labeled antiserum also reacted with similar concentrations of pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) replicative form (RF) RNA. Φ6 RNA, and poly A·poly U. Labeled normal serum gave only background counts when tested with any of these RNA’s. In addition, the labeled antiserum against poly I·poly C reacted with dsRNA in nucleic acids extracted from nuclei or vesicles of PEMV-infected cells, but not with nucleic acids extracted from chloroplasts of PEMV-infected cells or with nucleic acids extracted from any healthy cell fraction.