Newly generated avian erythroblastosis virus produces noninfectious particles lacking env-gene products.
The H strain of avian erythroblastosis virus (AEV-H) was recently isolated from the liver emulsion of a chicken that suffered from erythroblastosis after being inoculated with subgroup A leukosis virus. AEV-H induced erythroblastosis or sarcoma when inoculated into chickens and transformed chick embryo fibroblasts (CEF) in vitro. Analysis of viral proteins synthesized in cells, which were named HNP, transformed by AEV-H but not producing transforming virus revealed tha the genome of AEV-H directed the synthesis of the gag gene products, Pr76gag and Pr180gag-pol, which was the precursor of active reverse transcriptase. Thus the HNP produced virions that were not infectious due to a defect of the env gene. Studies on the viral RNA showed that a 35 S RNA, estimated to be 8000 nucleotides long, was the genomic RNA of AEV-H and probably carried one transforming gene, which is most likely erbB gene. The gene organization of AEV-H was suggested to be 5'-gag-pol-onc-3'. These data imply that the single oncogene is responsible for both erythroblastosis and sarcoma.
D001355:Alpharetrovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001353:Avian Leukosis / Q000382:microbiology; D001354:Avian Leukosis Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens; D005814:Genes, Viral; D009857:Oncogenes; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012513:Sarcoma, Experimental / Q000382:microbiology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins