Simulation and prevention of retrovirus-specific reactions by mycoplasmas

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Abstract
From human mycosis fungoides tumor-derived cell lines,Mycoplasma hyorhinis was isolated. This mycoplasma shared the following characteristics with retroviruses: uptake of3H-uridine, but not of3H-thymidine in cell culture; banding at 1.16 g/ml sucrose density and partial shift to retrovirus core density position (≅1.24 g/ml) after detergent treatment; incorporation of3H-TMP into high molecular weight material in standard reverse transcriptase assays with the template-primer poly (A) · (dT)12. On the other hand, the specific reverse transcriptase reaction of retroviruses with poly(A) · (dT)12 and poly(C)·(dG)∼16 was almost completely abolished in the presence of the mycoplasma. Thus,M. hyorhinis may interfere with identification and isolation procedures for retroviruses.