Low-molecular-weight RNAs of Moloney murine leukemia virus: identification of the primer for RNA-directed DNA synthesis

Abstract

The small RNAs of Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) were fractionated into at least 15 species by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The pattern of small RNAs is significantly different from that of Rous sarcoma virus. A subset of the virion small RNAs is associated with the genome RNA in the 70S complex. One of the associated molecules, a cellular tRNA, is tightly bound to the genome RNA and serves as the major primer for M-MuLV RNA-directed DNA synthesis in vitro.