Morphogenesis of Bittner Virus

The morphogenesis of Bittner virus (mouse mammary tumor virus) was studied in sectioned mammary tumor cells. Internal components of the virus (type A particles) were seen being assembled in virus factories close to the nucleus and were also seen forming at the plasma membrane. The particles in virus factories became enveloped by budding through the membrane of cytoplasmic vacuoles which were derived from dilated endoplasmic reticulum. Complete virus particles were liberated from these vacuoles by cell lysis. Particles budding at the plasma membrane were released into intercellular spaces. Maturation of enveloped virus occurred after release, but mature internal components were rarely seen in the cytoplasm before envelopment. Direct cell-to-cell transfer of virus by pinocytosis of budding particles by an adjacent cell was observed, and unusual forms of budding virus which participated in this process are illustrated and described. There was evidence that some virus particles contained cytoplasmic constituents, including ribosomes. Certain features of the structure of internal components are discussed in relation to a recently proposed model for the internal component of the mouse leukemia virus. Intracisternal virus-like particles were occasionally seen in tumor cells, but there was no evidence that these structures were developmentally related to Bittner virus.