ABSTRACT
Viral DNA was extracted from cells infected with bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) D1 strain after 34 serial undiluted passages (P34). P34 DNA was subjected to restriction analysis and Southern blot hybridisation using standard D1 DNA and P34 DNA of BmNPV as probes. Based on hybridisation profiles, the BmNPV DNA regions retained in the P34 DNA were localised on HindIII and PstI restriction maps. Two regions of BmNPV DNA located at 0-12.8 and 40.2-65.0 map unit (m.u.) were highly conserved in P34 DNA. These regions contained two of three interspersed homologous sequences (ihss), but only one of five homologous regions (hrs). This suggests that ihss may have an essential role in BmNPV replication.
Subject(s)
Genome, Viral , Nucleopolyhedroviruses/genetics , Restriction Mapping , Virus Cultivation/adverse effects , Animals , Blotting, Southern , Bombyx/virology , Cell Line , DNA, Superhelical/genetics , DNA, Viral/analysis , Virus Replication/geneticsABSTRACT
Seroepidemiological, clinical and molecular findings suggest that the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus human immunodeficiency virus-1 was introduced into the human species at the time (late 1950s) and in the geographic area (Zaire) in which millions of Africans were vaccinated with attenuated poliomyelitis virus strains that were produced in kidney tissue obtained from monkeys. Since monkeys not only harbor viruses that are remarkably similar to and genetically related to human immunodeficiency virus-1, but also served as tissue donors for the African polio vaccine, it is reasonable to suspect that a then non-detectable monkey virus with human-1-like properties was unknowingly co-cultured with the attenuated poliovirus virus and subsequently administered to the vaccinees. The possibility of such a polio vaccine-acquired immune deficiency syndrome connection is a reminder of the unpredictable danger of artifically crossing natural species-barriers in biomedical laboratories.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/transmission , Poliovirus Vaccine, Inactivated/adverse effects , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/history , Africa , Animals , Clinical Trials as Topic/adverse effects , Clinical Trials as Topic/history , Culture Techniques/adverse effects , Culture Techniques/history , Culture Techniques/methods , Disease Reservoirs , HIV-1/genetics , HIV-1/isolation & purification , HIV-1/pathogenicity , Haplorhini/virology , History, 20th Century , Humans , Poliovirus Vaccine, Inactivated/history , Poliovirus Vaccine, Inactivated/isolation & purification , Simian Immunodeficiency Virus/isolation & purification , Simian Immunodeficiency Virus/pathogenicity , Virus Cultivation/adverse effects , Virus Cultivation/history , Virus Cultivation/methodsABSTRACT
Infection of human and rabbit cells with cell-free HTLV-I was studied by PCR analysis. Both human and rabbit PBL were infected similarly by cell-free virus of both human and rabbit cell origin. Cells were infected with the cell-free virus without prior treatment and regardless of the concentration of the culture supernatant containing the virus. Human and rabbit cell lines were also infected similarly by the cell-free virus, the proviral DNA persisting for more than two months. The culture supernatants of HTLV-I-producing cells could thus be a potential cause of laboratory infections.
