Large RNase T1-resistant oligonucleotides encoding p15E and the U3 region of the long terminal repeat distinguish two biological classes of mink cell focus-forming type C viruses of inbred mice.

We used T1 oligonucleotide maps, in conjunction with available nucleotide sequences of appropriate C-type viruses, to identify regions of the viral genome that distinguish two biological classes of mink cell focus-forming (MCF) viruses described previously by Cloyd et al. (J. Exp. Med. 151:542-522, 1980). We found that leukemogenic MCF viruses from thymus differed from non-leukemogenic MCFs isolated from nonthymic neoplasms in nucleotide sequences encoding Prp15E and the U3 portion of the long terminal repeat (LTR). The thymic isolates possessed recombinant Prp15E genes, with the 5' to mid portion derived from their ecotropic parents and the extreme 3' portion invariably derived from their nonecotropic parents. These viruses probably derived the entire U3 portion of their LTRs from their nonecotropic parents. The nonthymic MCFs appeared to inherit their entire Prp15E coding region from their nonecotropic parents. We failed to detect consistent differences in gp70-coding sequences between the two groups of MCFs, but this may simply reflect limitations of the data. The studies presented here, in conjunction with studies from a number of labs indicating a role for MCF gp70 in leukemogenesis, indicate that three genetic elements, gp70, p15E, and the U3 portion of the LTR, may all play a role in determining the leukemogenic phenotype of type C viruses of high-leukemic inbred mice.