Pheasant virus: new class of ribodeoxyvirus

Abstract

Cocultivation of cells derived from embryos of golden pheasants or Amherst pheasants with chicken embryo cells infected with Bryan strain of Rous sarcoma virus resulted in the detection of viruses which appear to be endogenous in these pheasant cells. The pheasant viruses (PV) were similar to avian leukosis-sarcoma viruses (ALSV) in their gross morphology, in the size of their RNA, in the presence of a virion-associated RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (DNA nucleotidyltransferase; deoxynucleoside triphosphate: DNA deoxynucleotidyltransferase; EC 2.7.7.7), and in their growth characteristics. PV also serves as a helper for the glycoprotein-defective Rous sarcoma virus. However, PV was shown to be different from both ALSV and reticuloendotheliosis virus in the following properties: (i) PV does not have ALSV group specific antigens; (ii) the protein composition of PV is different from those of the other two groups of viruses; (iii) PV fails to complement the defective polymerase of alpha type Rous sarcoma virus; and (iv) PV RNA shows no detectable homology with nucleic acids of the other two groups of viruses. Thus, PV appears to be a new class of RNA viruses which contain RNA-dependent DNA polymerase.