title: Radiation leukemia virus contains two distinct viral RNAs.
abstract: We have analyzed the RNA genome of RadLV/VL3, a highly oncogenic murine leukemia virus. This virus is produced by a permanent cell line derived from a radiation leukemia virus-induced thymic lymphoma of C57BL/Ka mice. Two distinct RNA components were found in the virions: a 70S dimer containing two 8 kb RNA subunits and a 54S dimer containing two 5.6 kb RNAs. A nononcogenic retrovirus, BL/Ka(B), endogenous in the same strain of mice, contains only 8 kb viral RNA subunits. The linkages between both RadLV/VL3 dimers have identical thermal stabilities. Both dimers can serve as primer templates for reverse transcriptase and both produce very similar "strong-stop" cDNAs 147 +/- 1 bases long. Sequences at the 5' end of the 5.6 kb subunit contain the genes for the viral proteins p15 and p12, but the gene for p30 is either absent or partially deleted. In vitro translation of the 5.6 kb RNA yields a 100,000 molecular weight protein containing antigenic determinants which react with antibody to p15 but not with antibody to p30. In addition, cells producing RadLV/VL3 virus synthesize a novel of 1.6 kb poly(A)-containing cytoplasmic RNA which shows very little if any homology with BL/Ka(B) viral sequences.
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D005814:Genes, Viral; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000235:genetics*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins