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Correlation Between Buoyant Density and Ribonucleic Acid Content in Viruses. O. P. Sehgal, Departments of Plant Pathology and Statistics, University of Missouri, Columbia 65201; Jong-ho Jean(2), R. B. Bhalla(3), Meei Meei Soong(4), and G. F. Krause(5). (2)(3)(4)(5)Departments of Plant Pathology and Statistics, University of Missouri, Columbia 65201. Phytopathology 60:1778-1784. Accepted for publication 15 July 1970. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-1778.

The relationship between buoyant density ( Ρ ) in CsCl and ribonucleic acid (RNA) content of one bacterial and eight plant viruses was examined. The viruses selected for this study varied in their RNA content from 4 to 42%. A highly significant correlation (R² = 0.99) was found between Ρ and the absolute amount of RNA in these viruses. The functional relationship indicated that the Ρ of viruses increased at a greater than linear rate as the RNA content increased, but about 89% of this variation was directly attributable to the amount of RNA in the virions. Based on these observations, a mathematical formula was derived to estimate the RNA content of a virus from its Ρ value. Data on the correlation between Ρ values and nucleic acid contents of several other RNA viruses was reviewed and its significance discussed.