Replication of viral RNA: RNA synthetase from Escherichia coli infected with phage MS2 or Qb.

An RNA synthetase is formed in Escherichia coli after infection with bacteriophages containing RNA. Specific annealing techniques revealed that, from the very outset of the reaction in vitro, the partially purified enzyme-template complex synthesizes parental-type plus strands, namely, MS2-RNA when isolated from cells infected with MS2 phage and Q(beta)-RNA in the case of cells infected with Q(beta) phage. This is in contrast to the situation found with Q(beta) replicase primed with Q(beta)-RNA, where the initial product is the complementary strand.