Conformation polymorphism of RNA transcripts derived from various PNRSV isolates is affected by the temperature of electrophoresis

Polymorphism of heterologous duplexes of RNA transcripts of prunus necrotic ringspot virus isolates was studied at different temperatures of electrophoresis. Duplexes made from complementary RNA transcripts originating from four virus isolates differed in their electrophoretic mobilities. The differential mobilities of double-stranded RNA transcripts increased with increasing temperature of electrophoresis. The mobility of single-stranded RNA, on the other hand, though affected by temperature during electrophoresis, was not simply correlated with sequence divergence. This finding further supports the hypothesis that transcript conformation is the basis for the differential mobility phenomenon.