Linkage of the endogenous avian leukosis virus genome of virus-producing chicken cells to inhibitory cellular DNA sequences.
The endogenous avian leukosis virus genome of uninfected virus-producing(V+) chicken embryo fibroblasts appears to be inefficiently transcribed and is noninfectious in transfection assays of high molecular weight DNA. We previously proposed that the endogenous virus genome was linked to a cis-acting control element which inhibited its transcription and, consequently, interfered with transfection by endogenous viral DNA. We now report that DNA of uninfected V+ cells is infectious at a low level when sheared to the approximate size of the virus genome. These results suggest that the endogenous virus genome of uninfected V+ chicken cells can be converted to an infectious form by separating it from adjacent cellular DNA sequences, as predicted by the cis-acting control element model.
D000818:Animals; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D002645:Chickens; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D005814:Genes, Viral; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D008970:Molecular Weight
D004279:DNA, Viral