Differential complementation of adenovirus type 5 temperature-sensitive early mutants by adenovirus types 3 and 12

Abstract

We have assayed the ability of human adenoviruses from heterologous subgroups to complement early temperature-sensitive mutants of the C group virus Ad5 by analyzing coinfections at the restrictive temperature for serotype-specific DNA and late protein synthesis. Our results indicate that the B group virus AM, does not complement either ts125 or the N complementation group of Ad5 (ts36, ts69, and ts149). In contrast, studies with Ad12, an A group virus, and these mutants, indicate a differential complementation in that Ad12 complements all of the mutants in the Ad5 N complementation group but does not complement ts125. Failure to complement the ts125 defect in coinfected cells has been shown to be due to the inability of the heterologous wt gene product to substitute for the ts125 gene product directly at the level of DNA replication and not at some earlier event in the virus growth cycle.