Presence of complementary RNA in chicken sarcoma cells and Rous sarcoma virus

The subcellular localization of nucleotide sequences in Rous chicken sarcoma complementary to RNA of Rous sarcoma virus was investigated by RNA-RNA molecular hybridization. Samples of virion RNA labeled with radioactive iodine (¹²⁵I) were annealed with RNA from different fractions (nuclei, mitochondria, free and membrane-bound polysomes) isolated from Rous chicken sarcoma cells. The formation of RNase-resistant hybrids between virus RNA-¹²⁵I and RNA from mitochondria and membrane-bound polysomes was demonstrated; the relative frequency of occurrence of sequences complementary to virion RNA in the latter, moreover, was 446 times greater than in the former. The role of complementary ribonucleotide sequences is discussed.Laboratory of Biochemistry, N. N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the USSR, Leningrad. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. N. Klimov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 85, No. 3, pp. 332–334, March, 1978.