Some characters of vacuum-uv effects on sendai virus.

Taking advantage of having assay techniques for various functions located in nucleocapside (infectivity) and in the envelope (hemagglutination, neuraminidase activity and hemolysis), effects of vacuum-uv radiation on Sendai virus were investigated. Monochromatic 163-nm photons from a bromine discharge lamp and polychromatic synchrotron radiation with wavelengths longer than 115 nm from the electron storage ring were used as the vacuum-uv sources. Irradiation was performed in vacuum (dry) and in aqueous suspension (wet)..For comparison the viruses were irradiated with far-uv radiation (254 nm). While the far-uv radiation affected only infectivity, the vacuum-uv radiation affected the infectivity and other virus functions as well. SDS-electrophoretic behaviors after irradiation in dry state indicated that vacuum-uv radiation caused uniform damage over several polypeptide components. The pattern was more similar to that of γ-rays previously studied. These results may be related to the fact that faruv photons are absorbed predominantly in viral nucleic acids while vacuum-uv photons are absorbed more or less uniformly by various virus components. In the irradiation in suspension some difference was noted between vacuum-uv and γ-radiations.