SIMULATION AND PREVENTION OF RETROVIRUS - SPECIFIC REACTIONS BY MYCOPLASMAS

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. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.