Phenotypic characterization and physical mapping of a temperature-sensitive mutant of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus defective in DNA synthesis.

A ts mutant of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV), ts8, was shown to be defective in viral DNA synthesis at the nonpermissive temperature. Ts8-infected cells synthesized only early viral polypeptides at the nonpermissive temperature, and in contrast to wild-type (WT)-infected cells, showed no inhibition of host cell protein synthesis. The effect of the mutation on viral DNA synthesis was not immediately reversed after shifting infected cells down from the nonpermissive temperature to the permissive temperature; rather, a delay of several hours occurred before viral DNA synthesis was detected. The rate of accumulation of viral DNA in ts8-infected cells failed to increase after a shift from the permissive temperature to the nonpermissive temperature. This indicated that the ts8 mutation was involved in the synthesis of proteins required for viral DNA synthesis. The mutation was mapped by marker rescue to the region lying between 60.1 and 62.0% of the AcMNPV physical map.