Karyotype analysis and quantitation of viral transforming genes in Rous sarcoma virus transformed, revertant, and retransformed field vole cells.

Comparative studies of the number of cellular chromosomes and viral genes, including the gene required for malignant transformation, were performed on several clones of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed, revertant, and spontaneously retransformed field vole cells. The results of these studies indicate that no appreciable differences in either total viral gene equivalents or transforming gene sequences can be detected between transformed and revertant cell types, even though considerable differences in the number of certain chromosomes exist among the clones tested. Furthermore, no increase in the amount of total genes or transforming gene sequences accompanies retransformation of revertant clones, including clones that exhibited significant increases in chromosome number following retransformation.