RNA metabolism of murine leukemia virus II. Endogenous virus-specific RNA in the uninfected BALB/c cell line JLS-V9.

Type C virus-specific RNA sequences of BALB/c endogenous virus were detected in JLS-V9 cells (an uninfected BALB/c derived line) by annealing cell RNA with 3-H-labeled virus-specific DNA. Endogenous viruses used in preparing the 3-H-labeled DNA (mostly xenotropic) was prepared from JLS-V9 cells induced to produce virus with iododeoxyuridine. In whole-cell extracts, two virus-specific RNA species, 38S and 27S, were detected. No 60 to 70S virus-specific RNA was found. The same two species of virus-specific RNA were observed in isolated cytoplasmic RNA and in cytoplasmic RNA selected for polyadenylic acid-containing species by binding and elution from oligo(dT) cellulose. Very little, if any, of the virus-specific RNA was active as messenger RNA on polyribosomes. No virus-specific RNA transcribed from genes coding for the BALB/c endogenous N-tropic virus was detected, since 3-H-labeled DNA prepared from endogenous N-tropic virus did not hybridize measurably with JLS-V9 RNA.