Lack of correlation between the accumulation of plus-strand leader RNA and the inhibition of protein and RNA synthesis in vesicular stomatitis virus infected mouse L cells

The inhibition of protein synthesis in mouse L cells infected by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) requires expression of two regions (one large and one small) of the viral genome, as determined by target size analysis. The inhibition of host RNA synthesis was also shown to be dependent on expression of two regions of the VSV genome, most likely the same ones. In some cases, such as in cells infected by mutants T1026R1, or tsG41 at 40°, or moderately uv irradiated VSV, only one of the two regions was expressed, yet cellular protein and RNA synthesis was decreased. This suggests that the product of each region of the viral genome can act independently. In these instances the severity of the inhibition was dependent on both the length of the infection period and the multiplicity of infection. The identity of neither gene product is known, but it has been suggested that small product is plus-strand leader RNA. As shown herein, however, there was no correlation between the extent of host macromolecular synthesis inhibition and the quantity of leader RNA in infected cells.