The fibronectin (FN) receptor in avian cells has been characterized previously as a complex of three membrane glycoproteins of about Mr 160,000, Mr 140,000, and Mr 120,000 (simply termed protein band 1, band 2, and band 3, respectively). Monoclonal antibodies to the band 3 protein of the complex prevent FN and laminin binding both in vivo and in vitro and enable the detection of the receptor proteins in the plasma membrane and in adhesion plaques. Association of the FN receptor proteins with the adhesion-plaque protein talin also has been reported. We now find that the band 2 and band 3 proteins in the complex are phosphorylated in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chicken cells but not in normal chicken cells. Phosphorylation occurs predominantly on tyrosine and is accompanied by a reorganization ofthe receptor complex in the membrane of the transformed cells. Whereas normal cells contain the FN receptor in focal contacts and cellular processes between cells, v-src-transformed cells exhibit a more diffuse distribution of this receptor. In addition to the viral v-src oncogene, cells transformed by other avian oncogenes that also encode tyrosine kinases (v-.fs, v-erbB, and v-yes) also express the receptor complex proteins in the phosphorylated state regardless of whether the transforming protein is detectable in adhesion plaques. These results suggest that the altered FN and laminin receptor proteins may contribute to the transformed phenotype, but their significance and role in the transformed state remain to be established.Transformation by Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) is initiated and maintained by the protein product of the viral v-src gene (1, 2). This protein, designated pp60src, possesses an inherent tyrosine kinase activity essential for transformation and is situated along the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane and concentrated within cell-substratum adhesion sites (3). These latter sites are termed focal contacts or adhesion plaques and are associated either directly or indirectly with several functions that are altered in RSV-transformed cells. Focal contacts mediate not only the physical associations of cells to each other and to substrata (via extracellular molecules) but also serve as organizing centers for attachment of extracellular matrix protein and intracellular focal points for stress-fiber termination (4-10). These sites are very specialized regions of the plasma membrane, and proteins within these structures are logical targets for such RSV-induced alterations as decreased cellular adhesiveness, loss of cell surface fibronectin (FN), abnormal cell migration, dissolution of stress-fiber bundles, and ultimately the rounded transformed cell morphology.Little is known of the molecular composition and complexity of adhesion plaques; however, several proteins have been identified as constituents of these structures (7,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16).Of these proteins, vinculin has received considerable attention because it was shown to contain increased levels of phosphotyrosine in RSV-transformed...