The nucleotide sequence complexity of avian tumor virus RNA

The nucleotide sequence complexity of 60-70S RNA of Rous sarcoma virus was determined from the molar yields of 11 pure oligonucleotides of known chain length, obtained from [(32)P]RNA of Rous sarcoma virus by T1 RNase digestion and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We calculate an apparent chain length of about 9800 nucleotides, corresponding to a molecular weight of 3.4 x 10(6). Assuming the molecular weight of 60-70S RNA of Rous sarcoma virus to be about 10(7), our data suggest that the virus genome consists of identical, or very similar, nucleotide sequences repeated three to four times.