Primer requirement and template specificity of the DNA polymerase of RNA tumor viruses.

Polyribonucleotides will act as efficient templates for the DNA polymerases found in the virions of avian myeloblastosis virus and mouse leukemia virus if a short complementary oligodeoxyribonucleotide primer is added. Synthesis of the complementary polydeoxyribonucleotide continues until an amount of polymer equal to the amount of initial template has been produced. The two viruses show slightly different specificities toward the four homoribopolymers. Polydeoxyribonucleotides are generally much poorer templates than the homologous polyribonucleotides, in most cases yielding no detectable synthesis. The DNA polymerase of RNA tumor viruses, therefore, have the same requirements for activity as do other DNA polymerases, except that they prefer polyribonucleotides over polydeoxyribonucleotides as templates.