Molecular cloning of avian sarcoma virus closed circular DNA: structural and biological characterization of three recombinant clones.

Unintegrated, circular viral DNA, isolated from Prague A avian sarcoma virus (PrA-ASV)-infected quail cells (QT6), was cloned in the lambda vector lambda gtWES x lambda B. Three independent lambda-ASV recombinants were identified, and each contained a complete copy of the PrA-ASV genome. The arrangement of the ASV sequences within the recombinants was determined by restriction enzyme analysis and hybridization with labeled ASV-specific complementary DNA. One of the recombinants (lambda RPA101) resulted from cloning at the EcoRI site located within the terminally repeated sequence and therefore was virtually co-linear with PrA-ASV virion RNA. The other two recombinants (lambda RPA102 and 103) resulted from cloning at the EcoRI site located within the viral env gene. By restriction enzyme analysis and by measurement of R-loops formed between lambda RPA101 and PrA-ASV virion 35S RNA, the viral genome was estimated to be 9,100 bases in length. Genome length viral DNA purified from clones lambda RPA102 and 103 was biologically active. Transfection of chicken embryo cells with viral DNA, in the form of either circles or linear dimers, produced foci of transformed cells within 8 to 10 days. Linear DNA was much less efficient at inducing transformation. Viral DNA from the clone lambda RPA101 was unable to cause transformation; the basis for this defect is unknown.