Electron microscopy of the nucleic acid of mouse mammary tumor virus.

Mouse mammary tumor virus (MTV) was isolated from the milk of RIII mice by density-gradient centrifugation in Ficoll. The homogeneity of the preparation was demonstrated in electron micrographs. The nucleic acid was extracted with phenol in the presence of Pronase. Its viral origin was attested by failure of ribo-nuclease and deoxyribonuclease treatment of the virus preparation to destroy the filamentous molecules; after phenol extraction, the molecules were destroyed by ribonuclease but not by deoxyribonuclease. Rotary shadowed preparations were examined in the electron microscope. The length distribution of the RNA filaments showed peaks at 1.2, 2.4, and 3.6 mum. The molecular weight of the longest molecule of MTV-RNA was estimated as 3.6 x 10(6) daltons.