Structure and origin of defective genomes contained in serially passaged herpes simplex virus type 1 (Justin).

Restriction enzyme and hybridization analyses have revealed that high-density DNA prepared from passage 15 of serially passaged herpes simplex virus type 1 (Justin) contains three major classes of modified viral DNA molecules, each composed of distinct but closely related types of repeate units. The DNA sequences within the three types of repeat units are colinear with the DNA sequences located at the right end (between coordinates 0.94 and 1.0) of the parental herpes simplex virus type 1 genome. Thus, the three types of repeat units each contain the entire repeat sequence (ac) (which brackets the unique sequences of the small [S] component of herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA) and differ only with respect to the amount of unique S sequences which they contain. The three classes of high-density DNA molecules were found to be stably propagated between passages 6 and 15 of this series.