Bruce Phillips:
> Given recent comments, mine and Ed. Rybicki's. could there by any
> objection to called viroids (or perhaps certain satellite RNAs) RNA plasmids.
> The natural objection, as I see it, is that plasmids are defined as DNA
> molecules. But in all other attributes, viroids would seem to be the RNA
> equivalent.
They would, wouldn't they...except that they are potentially
pathogenic and offer no or no obvious survival advantage to their
hosts, which means they are much more similar to viruses in thast
respect.
Ed Rybicki, PhD
Dept Microbiology | ed at molbiol.uct.ac.za
University of Cape Town | phone: x27-21-650-3265
Private Bag, Rondebosch | fax: x27-21-650 4023
7700, South Africa |
WWW URL: http://www.uct.ac.za/microbiology/ed.html
"And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you"
