Failure to obtain transfection with XC mitochondrial DNA

The transfecting activity of DNA obtained from mitochondria of XC virogenic rat cells transformed with the Prague strain of RSV was tested. Both mitochondrial DNA isolated with EthBr, containing circular molecules, and total mitochondrial DNA were inefficient in transfecting sensitive chicken fibroblasts in spite of the fact that doses of mitochondrial DNA up to two orders higher than the minimum efficient dose of total XC DNA were used. These findings support the view that a DNA transcript of the RSV genome is not integrated in mitochondrial DNA.