Viral transformation of mammalian and avian cells is mediated by a single protein or a small number of proteins. Recent work has identified the presumptive gene products of the transforming segments of avian RNA tumor viruses: SV40 and polyoma virus (Purchio et al. 1978; Crawford et al. 1978; Schaffhausen et al. 1978). Although the exact mechanism of transformation is not yet understood, it seems unlikely that a single protein could directly elicit the multiple changes in cell physiology observed upon transformation.
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Senger et al. (1980) studied this question.