Identification of the 5' end of Rous sarcoma virus RNA

The 5'-terminal triphosphate of the 35S RNA isolated from Rous sarcoma virus is blocked by 7-methylguanosine in 5' linkage with the penultimate nucleoside which is methylated in the 2'-O-ribose position, a type of endgroup found in all animal mRNAs investigated during the past year. The specific nuclease-resistant terminal fragment of RSV RNA has the structure 7mG5'ppp5'GmpCp-. This finding supports the belief that RNA of Rous sarcoma virus represents a (+) strand messenger which may be directly translated upon infection.