Figure 8.
(A) Models for assembly pathways of pRNA hexameric ring. (B) Effect of heat dissociation on the activity (PFU/ml) of pRNA monomer, dimmer, and trimer. The y-axis is the factor (effect of heat) resulting from the activity (PFU/ml) of non-heated pRNA divided by the activity of heated pRNA, that is, the quotient of pRNA activity before heating (x) divided by the activity after heating (y). ‘Background effect' indicates that when the pRNA is at a very low concentration where the activity is extremely low, the background noise, m, could cover up the activity and the difference before and after heating could not be revealed. When x and y are small, (x+m)/(y+m) will approach 1. ‘Effect by Kd of dimer and trimer' indicates that higher pRNA concentrations result in a smaller effect of heating, as dimer and trimer could reform again quickly after denaturation at high concentrations.