Distinct oligonucleotide patterns of distinct influenza virus RNA's

Three molecular-weight fractions of influenza virus RNA (SS₁ SS₂ and SS₃) were prepared as described previously (Content &; Duesberg, 1971) and subjected to digestion with RNase T₁. Two-dimensional analyses of the digests by electrophoresis and homochromatography led to distinctive oligonucleotide patterns for each fraction of viral RNA. Almost all physically distinguishable large oligo-nucleotides of a given RNA species had a distinct base composition. It was concluded that each of the three fractions of viral RNA investigated contained different nucleotide sequences and presumably different genetic information.