Mechanism of transfection of chicken embryo fibroblasts by Rous sarcoma virus DNA.

The mechanism of transfection by Rous sarcoma virus DNA was investigated by assaying DNA-mediated transformation under conditions which restricted secondary virus infection. Chicken embryo fibroblasts which were genetically resistant to virus infection as a result of the absence of receptors for virus penetration were also resistant to transformation by integrated or unintegrated Rous sarcoma virus DNA. In addition, DNA of replication-defective Bryan hightiter Rous sarcoma virus was noninfectious, and transformation by DNA of a temperature-sensitive DNA polymerase mutant was temperature sensitive. These results indicated that secondary virus infection was necessary for transformation by Rous sarcoma virus DNA. Since transformation was assayed by colony formation in soft agar, as well as by focus formation, the requirement for secondary virus infection was not an artifact of potential difficulty in detection of foci formed by division of single transformed cells. Therefore, it appeared that donor DNA did not stably transform recipient cells by direct integration. Instead, the results were consistent with the hypothesis that transfection of chicken embryo fibroblasts by Rous sarcoma virus DNA proceeded by transcription of donor DNA, formation of extracellular progeny virus, and secondary virus infection of sensitive cells.