The 132 bp repeats are present in RNA transcripts from 1.8 kb gene family of Marek disease virus-transformed cells.

Marek's disease virus (MDV) is an oncogenic, lymphotropic herpesvirus of chickens: Loss of its tumourigenic potential is believed to be associated with amplification of the 132 bp repeats from BamHI-D and BamHI-H fragments. We prepared cDNA libraries from RPL1 and MSB1 cell line and from the latter we identified a clone which spanned the 132 bp repeats within the BamHI-H fragment. By sequencing and Northern blot analysis we confirmed the presence of the 132 bp repeats. The analysis by PCR made on the total RNA revealed two 132 bp repeats in MDV transcripts from RPL1 and two to three repeats in transcripts from MSB1 cells. These results show that sequences within the 132 bp repeats are transcribed and are not spliced out as previously reported.