A rapid and simple method for determining the DNA sequences of fragments inserted into vaccinia virus.

Recombinant virus vectors such as vaccinia virus, adenovirus and herpesvirus are frequently used to express a variety of foreign products. A rapid method allowing the precise identification of recombinants would be useful to confirm the nature of a newly produced recombinant and, in particular, to discriminate between recombinants bearing near-identical foreign products. Using vaccinia virus, we describe a method that in one day provides sequence analysis of the recombinant viral DNA.