Translation and Identification of the MRNA Species Synthesized in Vitro by the Virion-associated RNA Polymerase of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

Vesicular stomatitis virus messenger RNA has been transcribed in vitro from the viral genome by the virion-associated RNA polymerase in quantities suitable for translation. Wheat germ cell-free extracts programmed with the isolated in vitro 12-18S RNA fraction synthesize polypeptides similar to the viral N, NS, and M proteins, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and tryptic peptide mapping of the in vitro products and the viral marker polypeptides. In addition, the RNA synthesized in vitro also codes for a protein of molecular weight 63,000 which may be a nonglycosylated form of the viral glycoprotein G. The 12-18S RNA has been partially separated into individual messenger species and these have been identified by the proteins for which they code. There are four monocistronic messenger species in the in vitro 12-18S RNA and the coding capacity of three of these molecules agrees with the estimated molecular weight of the polypeptide assigned to it.