Nucleotide sequence of the Rauscher murine leukaemia virus long terminal repeat.

The long terminal repeat (LTR) of Rauscher murine leukaemia virus (MuLV) has been sequenced. It differs in only three positions from the LTR of Rauscher spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV), and in four positions from the LTR of Rauscher mink cell focus-inducing virus (MCFV). It is unlikely that these differences account for differences in leukaemogenicity or tissue tropism of Rauscher MuLV, SFFV and MCFV. In contrast to the LTR of Friend MuLV, the Rauscher MuLV LTR contains only one copy of a tandem direct repeat. This repeat includes an enhancer core sequence.