Isolation of thioguanine resistant variants of K-BALB cells non-inducible for type C viruses by 5-iododeoxyuridine.

Cones of thioguanine resistant K-BALB mouse cells wereisolated which were inducible for endogenous type C virus synthesis by cycloheximide and dexamethsone, but not 5-iododeoxyuridine. A comparison of the number of foci formed on NRK and SC-I cells suggested that the xenotropic virus was suppressed. The variants were not defective in the incorporation of thymidine or iododeoxyuridine or deficient in thymidine kinase, but were deficient in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase and the incorporation of hypoxanthine into nucleic acid. Because these cells are blocked at some point in the expression of endogenous virus, they may prove useful in establishing the steps involved in chemical activation of virus synthesis.