Revistin found by screening for inhibitors of reverse transcriptase of an oncogenic virus

Revistin, a substance that strongly inhibits the reverse transcriptase activity of murine leukemia virus in our screening system, was obtained from a cultured broth of a soil streptomyces which was closely related to Streptomyces filipinensis. The assay method for the activity was based on the inhibition by a test material of the incorporation of 3H-dTMP into DNA synthesized by the reverse transcriptase of an oncogenic RNA virus. Crude revistin was isolated by serial procedures of salting out with ammonium sulfate and precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride. The crude material showed neither antibacterial nor antifungal activity. It exhibited against splenomegaly in mice caused by Rauscher leukemia virus infection.