Viral and cellular src genes contribute to the structure of recovered avian sarcoma virus transforming protein.

Recovered avian sarcoma viruses (rASVs) were obtained from tumors induced by certain transformation-defective (td) mutants of Schmidt-Ruppin strain Rous sarcoma virus of subgroup A (SR-A). The genomes of these td SR-A mutants lack most but not all of the src gene. rASV genomes, however, possess intact src genes, which are largely derived from cellular genetic information, presumably an endogenous cellular gene called c-src, which shares considerable homology with the viral src. To further define the genetic origin of rASV src, we examined by tryptic peptide analysis the product of this gene, pp60src, from rASV and SR-A, as well as the normal cellular homolog pp60c-src. We found peptides unique to each putative "parental" protein present together in maps of rASV p60src, demonstrating that the endogenous cellular c-src gene itself contributes to the structure of rASV pp60src. Certain isolates of rASV encode pp60srcS of altered apparent molecular weight. In these cases, the variation in structure was located in the amino-terminal portion of the protein. That such polymorphism can be tolerated suggests that this region of the protein is less critical to the ability of these agents to transform cells.