Genetic control of antinuclear antibodies in mice infected with Rauscher leukemia virus.

The incidence of antinuclear antibodies after Rauscher leukemia virus inoculation was found to be significantly higher in C57BL/6 than in BALB/c mice and still greater in their F1 hybrids. The relationships among antinuclear antibody incidence, erythroblastic disease, Rauscher leukemia virus production, and the H-2 genotypes were studied in the F1 generation and backcrosses using different virus inocula. The results observed suggest that (a) at least two genes are involved in the control of susceptibility to Rauscher leukemia virus-induced erythroblastosis, one of them probably being H-2 linked, and that (b) a non-H-2-linked gene seems to control, at the same time, induction of antinuclear antibodies, focus-forming virus production in the spleen, and susceptibility to the disease. It can be concluded that C-type viruses play an active role in antinuclear antibody induction.