Sequence instability in the long terminal repeats of avian spleen necrosis virus and reticuloendotheliosis virus.

Sequence divergence between the 3' long terminal repeats (LTR) of avian reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), deletion variant proviral clone 2-20-4, and spleen necrosis virus (SNV)-proviral clones 14-44, 60, and 70-was found to involve two classes of base substitutions: low-frequency interspersed and high-frequency clustered substitutions. Clones 2-20-4 and 14-44 have diverged 4.4% owing to low-frequency substitutions. In contrast, two high-frequency substitution segments have diverged by 30% and 29%, respectively. Clustered substitutions appear to be located either within or next to tandem repeats, suggesting their introduction concomitant with sequence deletions and duplications commonly associated with such repeats. A new 19-bp tandem repeat is found in clone 2-20-4. Its sequence could have evolved from the 26-bp repeats found in the SNV clones.