Oncogenicity of simian virus 40 deletion mutants that induce altered 17-kilodalton t-proteins.

Plaque-purified viable simian virus 40 deletion mutants containing deletions between map positions 0.54 and 0.59 induced tumors in 21--92% of LSH hamsters inoculated during the first 24 hr of life. HinfI restriction endonuclease digestion patterns of the genomes of virions rescued from the tumor cells and the distribution of simian virus 40 early proteins in these cells associated tumor induction with the inoculated mutants. These results imply that the DNA sequences comprising that portion of the early simian virus 40 genome between map positions 0.54 and 0.59 are not essential for simian virus 40 oncogenicity.