Antibodies against a synthetic peptide of the avian retrovirus pp32 protein and the beta DNA polymerase subunit.

Antibodies directed against a synthetic peptide (14 amino acids in length), whose amino acid sequence was predicted from the nucleotide sequence of the polymerase gene of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), specifically immunoprecipitated the RSV beta polymerase subunit and the pp32 protein but not the alpha polymerase subunit. The first amino acid of the synthetic peptide is located approximately 30,800 Da from the predicted carboxyl terminus of the polymerase gene. These studies confirm the correct reading frame predicted for the polymerase gene and establish a minimal NH2 terminus for the pp32 DNA binding protein, which was previously shown to be derived from the carboxyl terminus of the polymerase gene.