In vivo selection of Rous sarcoma virus mutants with randomized sequences in the packaging signal.

ABSTRACT: Retrovirus genomes contain a sequence at the 5' end which directs their packaging into virions. In Rous sarcoma virus, previous studies have identified important segments of the packaging signal, Psi, and support elements of a secondary-structure prediction. To further characterize this sequence, we used an in vivo selection strategy to test large collections of mutants. We generated pools of full-length viral DNA molecules with short stretches of random sequence in Psi and transfected each pool into avian cells. Resulting infectious virus was allowed to spread by multiple passages, so that sequences could compete and the best could be selected. This method provides information on the kinds of sequences allowed, as well as those that are most fit. Several predicted stem-loop structures in

SUBMITTER: Doria-Rose NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC110144 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature