AKR murine leukemia virus genome: frequency of sequences in DNA of high-, low-, and non-virus-yielding mouse strains.

Studies with a single-stranded DNA probe complementary to the RNA of mouse-tropic AKR murine leukemia virus indicate that the complete genome of the AKR-type murine leukemia virus is present in the DNA of high- and low-virus-yielding mouse strains, while DNA of non-virus-yielding strains contains only a part of the genome. Furthermore, in those strains where the genome is complete, two populations of virus-specific DNA sequences can be identified (more abundant and less abundant species) according to their rate of association with the probe. Low-virus-yielding mouse strains contain fewer copies of the less abundant species and, consequently, fewer complete viral genomes than do high-virus-yielding strains. Thus, in the ten strains tested, there is a good correlation between completeness of the genome of AKR-type murine leukemia virus in cellular DNA and the capacity of the cells to release infectious AKR-type murine leukemia virus. Moreover, the number of complete viral genomes correlates with the frequency of infectious virus production by virus-positive strains. DNA from wild Mus musculus also contained viral sequences, the sample tested showing reassociation kinetics identical to the non-virus-producing strains.