Abelson murine leukemia virus mutants with alterations in the virus-specific P120 molecule

Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) is a replication-defective virus that transforms both fibroblasts and hematopoietic cells in vitro. The virus encodes a 120,000-molecular-weight protein (P120) that is composed of Moloney murine leukemia virus-derived gag gene sequences and A-MuLV--specific sequences. This protein is the only A-MuLV--encoded protein that has been detected, and thus P120 is a candidate for the transforming protein of A-MuLV. We now report isolation and characterization of three new A-MuLV isolates that do not synthesize P120 but do produce analogous proteins of larger (160,000 molecular weight) and smaller (100,000 and 90,000 molecular weight) size. All of these A-MuLV isolates transform fibroblasts and lymphoid cells in vitro. Because the different A-MuLV proteins vary in the A-MuLV--specific region of the molecule, these variants may set a maximum limit on the size of the A-MuLV transforming protein.