Conserved sequence related to the 3'-terminal region of retrovirus RNA'S In normal cellular DNAs

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Abstract
The nucleotide sequences related to the 39-terminal protion of retrovirus genomic RNA have been detected in the DNA of animals, including humans. The DNA complementary to the 400 to 700 nucleotides from the 39-terminal end of retrovirus RNA (cDNA39), which contains the enriched conserved region, was hybridized with DNA from a variety of animal cells. Under the conditions of annealing in 0.72 M NaCl at 67 degrees C and hydroxyapatite chromatography at 55 degrees C, 20 to 50% of the radioactivity of the cDNA39 prepared from two retroviruses, a murine Rauscher virus (RLV) and a baboon virus (M7), annealed with normal cellular DNA of animals, including human tissue. The thermal denaturation profile revealed considerable mismatching between the duplex of the cDNA39 and human DNA, cDNA39 of retroviruses is most homologous to cellular DNA of the host species of origin and is less homologous to cellular DNA of species that are distant in the phylogeny of the host species. The conservation and evolution of nucleotide sequences related to the 39 end of retrovirus genomes in animal DNAs, including humans, suggest that the sequences may have important functions.