Evidence for sequence heterogeneity among the double-stranded RNA segments of Penicillium chrysogenum mycovirus

We have examined the dsRNA segments of the multipartite virus from Penicillium chrysogenum (ATCC 9480). A fourth RNA segment has been detected recently and, in the present work, we separated the four RNA segments and looked for possible homologies among them by thermal denaturation and electron microscopical heteroduplex studies. Differences were found between the differential melting profiles of the separated RNA segments, and no extensive regions of homology were detected among the various RNA segments by heteroduplex analyses. The results suggest that each RNA segment contains unique sequences. A comparison of the lengths of the RNA segments determined by electron microscopy with those determined by gel electrophoresis suggests that one of the segments has a distinct tertiary structure.