Patterns of proviral insertion and deletion in avian leukosis virus-induced lymphomas

Sixty-eight lymphomas induced by eight different avian leukosis viruses have been analyzed on Southern blots for virus-induced mutations in the chicken c-myc gene. Sixty-six of the lymphomas exhibited a proviral insertion in c-myc, whereas one exhibited a new transduction of c-myc. Sixty-four of the proviral insertions were in the same transcriptional orientation as c-myc. Two were in the opposite transcriptional orientation. All of the insertions were upstream of the protein-coding sequences of c-myc, with most residing in the first exon or the first intron of c-myc. All of the lymphoma-inducing proviruses had deletions that included either sequences near the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) or an LTR. The most frequent lymphoma-inducing provirus appeared to have retained both of its LTRs, but had lost sequences near its 5' LTR. The second and third most frequent lymphoma-inducing proviruses consisted of solo LTRs or of proviruses that had lost the 5' LTR as well as some internal sequences. Twenty-four insertions were mapped in c-myc. Each of these mapped to within 150 base pairs of one of the five DNase I-hypersensitive sites that occur in a 3-kilobase region immediately 5' to the protein-coding sequences of c-myc. One lymphoma contained a new c-myc transducing virus. This virus, MYC-3475, caused rapid-onset myelocytomatosis.