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Two unrelated cell‐derived sequences in the genome of avian leukemia and carcinoma inducing retrovirus MH2.
Author(s) -
Jansen H.W.,
Rückert B.,
Lurz R.,
Bister K.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01686.x
Subject(s) - retrovirus , provirus , biology , gene , genome , virology , long terminal repeat , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Molecularly cloned proviral DNA of avian replication‐defective retrovirus Mill Hill No. 2 (MH2) was analyzed. The MH2 provirus measures 5.5 kb including two long terminal repeats (LTR), and contains a partial complement of the structural gene gag, 1.5 kb in size, near the 5′ terminus, and a 1.3‐kb segment of the v‐myc transforming gene near the 3′ terminus. These v‐myc sequences are closely related to the v‐myc transforming gene of avian acute leukemia virus MC29, and to the cellular chicken gene c‐myc. The gag and myc domains on the MH2 provirus are separated by unique sequences, 1.3 kb in size and termed v‐mil, which are unrelated to v‐myc, or to other oncogenes or structural genes of the avian leukemia‐sarcoma group of retroviruses. Normal chicken DNA contains sequences closely related to v‐mil, termed c‐mil. Analyses of chicken c‐mil clones isolated from a recombinant DNA library of the chicken genome reveal that c‐mil is a single genetic locus with a complex split gene structure. In the MH2 genome, v‐mil is expressed via genome‐sized mRNA as a gag‐related hybrid protein, p100gag‐mil, while v‐myc is apparently expressed via subgenomic mRNA independently from major coding regions of structural genes. The presence in the MH2 genome of two unrelated cell‐derived sequences and their independent expression may be significant for the oncogenic specificities of this virus.