Abstract
Extrachromosomal DNA purified from mink cells acutely infected with the Snyder-Theilen strain of feline sarcoma virus (FeSV) was digested with restriction endonucleases, and the DNA fragments were electrophoretically separated, transferred to a solid substrate, and hybridized with radiolabeled DNA transcripts complementary to different portions of the FeSV RNA genome. Major DNA species 8.4 and 5.0 kilobase pairs (kbp) long represent the linear, unintegrated proviruses of Snyder-Theilen feline leukemia virus and FeSV, respectively. Transfection experiments performed with electroeluted DNAs showed that the 8.4-kbp form led to the production of replicating nontransforming virus in mink and cat cells; in contrast, the 5.0-kbp DNA produced helper virus-independent foci of transformation in mouse NIH/3T3 cells and helper virus-dependent foci in mink cells at an efficiency comparable to that obtained with unfractionated extrachromosomal DNA. Sites of restriction endonuclease cleavage for six enzymes were oriented with respect to one another within the FeSV provirus. EcoRI recognized cleavage sites at 0.3 to 0.4 kbp from each terminus of FeSV DNA, reducing the 5.0-kbp DNA to molecules 4.3 kbp long; this enzyme excised a large internal proviral DNA fragment of corresponding size from the DNA of FeSV-transformed mink nonproducer cells. By using DNA transcripts complementary to different portions of the FeSV genome, sarcoma-specific sequences (the FeSV src gene) were positioned within 2.1 and 3.4 kbp from the 5' end of the proviral DNA with respect to the viral RNA genome. The src gene is flanked at both ends by sequences shared in common with feline leukemia virus. The localization of src sequences to this region suggests that a portion of an FeSV polyprotein which contains feline oncornavirus-associated cell membrane antigen (FOCMA-S) is the major product of this gene.