Emergence of infectious simian virus 40 whose AT tract in the replication origin/early promoter region is substituted by cellular or viral DNAs.
In simian virus 40 (SV40) and several other polyomaviruses, the TATA box of the early promoter is embedded in an AT tract that is also an essential part of the replication origin. We generated an 'AT trap', an SV40 genome lacking the AT tract and unable to grow in CV-1 monkey cells. Co-transfection of the AT trap with oligonucleotides containing AT tracts of human polyomaviruses, a poly(A : T) tract or variants of the SV40 WT sequence all restored infectious virus. In a transfection of the AT trap without a suitable oligonucleotide, an AT-rich segment was incorporated, stemming either from bovine (calf serum) or monkey (host cell) DNA. Similarly, when cells were grown with human serum, a human DNA segment was captured by SV40 to substitute for the missing AT stretch. We conclude that the virus is quite opportunistic in accepting heterologous substitutes, and that even low-abundance DNA from serum can be incorporated into the viral genome.
Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Str. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Simon
S
Keiser
Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Str. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Katharina
K
Schmidt
Transplantation & Clinical Virology, Dept. of Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland.|Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Str. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Tobias
T
Bethge
Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Str. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Julia
J
Steiger
Transplantation & Clinical Virology, Dept. of Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland.
Hans H
HH
Hirsch
Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Str. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Walter
W
Schaffner
Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Str. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Oleg
O
Georgiev
D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016865:Reassortant Viruses; D013539:Simian virus 40 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*
D004279:DNA, Viral