[Intracellular "sorting" of highly marked (3H)-v-RNA during maturation of influenza virus]

In the presence of [3H]-nucleosides the high-labeled viral [3H]-RNAs are shown to be sorted out and not included into maturing viral particles in the cells infected by influenza virus. Finding of the "sorting out" mechanism came to be possible due to storing cells in the cold for a long time and thus permitting to accumulate [3H]-decays under the conditions of temporary interruption of infectious process. Most probably, the high-labeled [3H]-RNAs are not included into the maturing viral particles due to their radiolytic damages. The "sorting out" of high-labeled viral RNAs is evidently compensated by comparatively low-labeled RNAs from the redundant intracellular pool of v-RNAs.