Rifamycin antibiotics, which inhibit RNA-directed DNA polymerase of Rauscher leuckemia virus, prevent the leukemogenic activity of the virus, and the effect of leukemogenesis correlates with the magnitude of inhibition of the purified enzyme. This inhibition of enzyme activity by rifamycin SV derivatives is due to a relatively tight binding between the enzymes and the inhibitors, yet the binding can be reversed by nonionic detergent. The results of this study suggest that RNA-directed DNA polymerase is essential for induction of leukemia by exogenous virus and correlate with the previous observation that the same derivatives block viral transformation in vitro .