Aggregation of Tobacco Mosaic Virus by Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate

Abstract

The precipitation of tobacco mosaic virus by sodium chondroitin sulfate in an aqueous solution was investigated kinetically by means of turbidimetry. The virus solution became turbid after the addition of chondroitin sulfate. A threshold concentration of chondroitin, 1.33 mg/ml, was required for virus precipitation, irrespective of the virus concentration. The precipitation resulted from a mutual spatial exclusion phenomenon, leading to the separation of the virus as a crystalline phase. The dimension of chondroitin sulfate calculated at the threshold concentration agreed well with that obtained by other methods. The initial slopes and the aggregation half-times of the virus aggregates depended on both chondroitin and virus concentrations and the former increased with the increase in concentration of each. Above the threshold concentration of chondroitin sulfate, tobacco mosaic virus aggregation was a rapid-aggregation process and ended within 100 sec.The substances which inhibit the processes of infection by viruses are related to their antiviral actions. These inhibitors are divided into two categories: one is inhibitors of infection and the other is inhibitors of virus multiplication (1). The inhibitors of infection are substances that, when inoculated onto leaves simultaneously with viruses, prevent infection from occurring. The inhibitors of virus multiplication are substances that, when applied to leaves already infected, retard the rate at which the infecting viruses multiply .Infection by plant viruses has been shown to be inhibited by many chemicals in the juices extracted from infected plants: crude extracts of

Antiviral activity of polysaccharides against infection of tobacco mosaic virus

“…The inhibitors of virus multiplication are the substances which retard the rate of the infecting virus multiplication (Ref. 1,2). Infection by plant viruses has been shown to be inhibited by many chemicals in the juices extracted from infected plants.…”