A comparison of the high molecular weight RNAs of visna virus and Rous sarcoma virus

Detection of picornavirus sequences in nervous tissue of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and control patients

We used in situ hybridization to look for picornavirus ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequences in frozen sections of central nervous system (CNS) tissue of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and control patients. Using reconstruction experiments, we concluded that 30 copies of viral RNA per cell could be detected with the assay. RNA which hybridized to DNAs complementary (cDNAs) to both poliovirus and Theiler's virus was found at several levels in the CNS of 2 patients, 1 ALS patient, and 1 control. In transverse sections of the spinal cord, these sequences predominated in cells of the anterior horns. We assessed the specificity of hybridization by several criteria: no hybridization was observed with heterologous visna virus cDNA probes; hybridization was abolished by pretreatment of the sections with ribonuclease; chemography artifacts were ruled out; and the results were reproduced in three independent experiments. We concluded that RNA molecules, possibly belonging to a picornavirus having sequences in common with poliovirus and Theiler's virus, were present in the CNS of these 2 patients. On the other hand, 14 cases of classic ALS, 2 cases of Guamanian parkinsonian dementia, and 5 controls had negative results. However, the presence of picornavirus sequences in our series could be underestimated because in many cases autolysis times were 10 hours or longer.

Intracellular ribonucleoprotein complexes of visna virus are infectious

Sheep choroid plexus cells infected with visna virus produce intracytoplasmic viral ribonucleoprotein complexes with sedimentation values of 120S to 200S and buoyant densities of 1.29 to 1.32 g/cm3. These ribonucleoprotein complexes display an endogenous RNA-directed DNA polymerase activity and contain all of the species of RNA associated with polysomes. An analysis of the polypeptides present in the ribonucleoproteins allowed us to identify the mature internal virion core proteins and their precursor, Pr55gag, as well as the glycosylated envelope precursor gPr150env and small amounts of mature glycoprotein gp135. Ultracentrifugation-purified ribonucleoproteins could infect sheep choroid plexus cells and led to a normal lytic cycle with virus production. Our results suggest that visna virus can propagate by means of intracellular infectious particles.

The RNA of the human syncytium-forming (foamy) virus

Human syncytium-forming (foamy) virus was labeled with 3H-uridine and banded isopycnically in sucrose gradients (buoyant density = 1.16 to 1.18 g/cm3). Viral RNA extracted from the banded virus was analyzed either by rate zonal separation in sucrose gradients or by polyacrylamide-agarose gel electrophoresis. The results indicated that purified HSFV contains a 60S RNA component plus several smaller molecular weight RNA components. On dissociation with heat, smaller RNA structures were released from the 60S component. These results indicate that the genome of HSFV, like the other members of the Retroviridae family, is composed of an aggregate of several RNA species.

Antigenic variation in visna virus

Two antigenic variants of visna virus were isolated sequentially from a single sheep inoculated with a plaque-purified strain of virus designated 1514. The genetically stable variants, LV1-1 and LV1-4, are of two classes: LV1-1 is partially neutralized by antibody to the inoculum strain 1514, while LV1-4 is not neutralized by antibody to 1514. The genetic mechanism responsible for generating the antigenic variants was investigated by comparing the chymotryptic and tryptic maps of the envelope glycoprotein gp135 and core polypeptides (p30, p16, p14), and by comparing the pattern of large oligonucleotides produced by digestion of the RNAs by T1 ribonuclease. We show that only the peptide maps of gp135 differ among strains, that the number of peptide fragments altered is small and that gp135 is the polypeptide that elicits neutralizing antibody. The maps of the RNAs are identical. We conclude that mutation in the glycoprotein gene rather than recombination is more probably responsible for antigenic variation, and speculate on the special aspects of visna virus replication relevant to this phenomenon.

Properties of Visna Virus Particles Harvested at Short Time Intervals: RNA Content, Infectivity, and Ultrastructure

The major RNA component of Visna virus harvested at short intervals of time (5 min) is not the 60 to 70 S RNA but a molecule of higher electrophoretic mobility. This RNA has been isolated and characterized. Its sedimentation coefficient is identical to that of 30 to 40 S RNA subunits obtained by heat denaturation of the 60 to 70 S RNA. In 1.8% acrylamide gels without agarose the electrophoretic mobility of 30 to 40 S RNA subunits present in rapidly harvested virus is slightly lower than that of the subunits obtained by denaturation of the 60 to 70 S RNA; after heat denaturation the mobilities are identical. These free RNA subunits present in early virus particles assemble into a 60 to 70 S RNA complex as shown by following the RNA content of early virus incubated at 37 C for various lengths of time. The rate of this maturation process is slow. There is no difference between the infectivity of immature and mature virus particles. Both particles have a dense core when examined in sections of virus pellets.

Measurement of the sequence complexity of cloned Moloney murine leukemia virus 60 to 70S RNA: evidence for a haploid genome

The sequence complexity of the 60-70S RNA complex from Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) was determined by measuring the annealing rate of radioactively labeled virus-specific DNA with M-MuLV 60-70S RNA in conditions of vast RNA excess. The M-MuLV RNA annealing rate, characterized by the quantity C(r)t((1/2)), was compared with the C(r)t((1/2)) values for annealing of poliovirus 35S RNA (2.6 x 10(6) molecular weight) with poliovirus-specific DNA and Sindbis virus 42S RNA (4.3 x 10(6) molecular weight) with Sindbis-specific DNA. M-MuLV-specific DNA was prepared in vitro by the endogenous DNA polymerase reaction of M-MuLV virions, and poliovirus and Sindbis virus DNAs were prepared by incubation of viral RNA and DNA polymerase purified from avian myeloblastosis virus and an oligo deoxynucleotide primer. The poliovirus and Sindbis virus DNAs were sedimented through alkaline sucrose gradients, and those portions of the DNA with sizes similar to the M-MuLV DNA were selected out for the annealing measurements. M-MuLV was cloned on NIH-3T3 cells because it appeared possible that the standard source of M-MuLV for these experiments was a mixture of viruses. The annealing measurements indicated a sequence complexity of approximately 9 x 10(6) daltons for the cloned M-MuLV 60-70S RNA when standardized to poliovirus and Sindbis virus RNAs. This value supports the hypothesis that each of the 35S RNA subunits of M-MuLV 60-70S RNA has a different base sequence.