You have isolated a newly discovered virus and are attempting to characterize it. You begin with its genome. You first isolate the virion- producing mRNA from culture cells infected with the virus. When you compare these mRNA with the viral genome, you find that they are complementary. What does this tell you?
A) This virus has a negative- sense genome.
B) This virus has an ambisense genome.
C) The data are inconclusive.
D) This virus has a positive- sense genome.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A negative-sense genome means that the viral RNA is complementary to the mRNA, which is what is observed in this scenario. Positive-sense genomes are identical to mRNA, not complementary.

You Have Isolated a Newly Discovered Virus and Are Attempting