A putative second cell-derived oncogene of the avian leukaemia retrovirus E26

The acute avian leukaemia retroviruses AMV and E26 both induce myeloblastosis in vivo and transform myeloblasts in vitro. Both viruses contain the oncogene v-myb first described for AMV. Unlike AMV, E26 has the additional capacity to induce erythroblastosis in vivo and to transform erythroblasts. Previous analyses indicated that the genome of E26 also contained nucleotide sequences distinct from v-myb and unrelated to viral replicative genes. Using a molecularly cloned E26 provirus, we have now identified a novel nucleotide sequence designated v-ets (for E-twenty-six specific) of approximately 1.5 kilobase pairs (kbp) located next to v-myb. v-ets possesses all the structural characteristics of a putative new oncogene: it has a conserved cellular counterpart c-ets which is transcribed in some normal chicken cells as a major 7.5-kb polyadenylated RNA. Although our results now await elucidation of their biological significance, we propose that v-ets could be a new oncogene accounting for the additional transforming properties of E26, or potentiating the transforming properties of the v-myb oncogene.