Decrease in the levels of nuclear RNA precursors for alpha 2 collagen in Rous sarcoma virus transformed fibroblasts.

We have examined the levels of type I alpha 2 collagen RNA precursors, containing both intron and exon sequences in nuclear RNA preparations of chick embryo fibroblasts (CEF) and of CEF transformed by the Schmidt-Rupin strain of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV). We have used two different fragments of chick alpha 2 collagen genomic DNA as hybridization probes in S1 mapping experiments. Each of these DNA probes contains an entire intron. Our results indicate that the levels of the primary transcript of alpha 2 collagen RNA are much lower in RSV-CEF than in CEF. They suggest, but do not prove that the effect of the transforming protein p60src on the synthesis of alpha 2 collagen is mediated by a transcriptional control mechanism.