Processing of exogenous poly(A) added to virus-infected cells.

Exogenous ³H]-poly(A) was taken up by and was stable for some hours in monolayers of human embryo lung cells in culture. The poly(A) was extracted and sized by G200 Sephadex chromatography. Non-infected and virus-infected cells converted the majority of ³H]-poly(A) into a smaller poly(A) molecule which could still bind to oligo(dT)cellulose. In addition virus-infected cells only converted 11% into a poly(A) containing-molecule which was at least 4-fold greater in size than the original poly(A). This larger material could also bind to oligo(dT)cellulose and did not result from the breakdown and re-utilization of the ³H]-poly(A).