Virus of Avian Myeloblastosis. XII. Chemical Constitution

Analyses were made of the chemical constitution of the virus of avian myeloblastosis. Studies made by microchemical techniques on samples of purified viruses from individual chickens yielded the values of nitrogen, 9.9; phosphorus, 1.27; pentose nucleic acid, 2.17; and lipide, 35 percent, respectively. No evidence was seen of deoxypentose nucleic acid. The content of phosphorus in excess of that bound in the nucleic acid suggests that much of the lipide may be in the form of phospholipide. Within the limits of the methods employed, the results indicated high uniformity in constitution of specimens from different birds, which corroborates evidence of the homogeneity of purified virus preparations previously obtained by analytical ultracentrifugation and electrophoresis. The findings show that in chemical constitution the virus of avian myeloblastosis does not differ in principle from that of filterable agents causing other diseases in man and animals.