Abstract
The RNA inactivator(s) synthesized from Cu2+ and hydroquinone reacts with ail four free bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil. After 1 day at 23°C, losses of these bases averaged 66%, 39%, 97%, and 25%, respectively. In the controls with neither Cu2+ nor hydroquinone and with either one without the other, there was no significant loss of any of the bases, except for the possibly significant loss (14%) of adenine after incubation with Cu2+ without hydroquinone. L-Histidine, a chelator of Cu2+, protected all four bases against the inactivation. The hypothesis that the chemical target(s) for the inactivator(s) in monoribonucleotides and in the naked viral RNA genome is the base moiety(ies) is discussed.