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Covalently closed circles of adenovirus 5 DNA

Nature volume 301, pages 172–174 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

The genome of adenoviruses is a double-stranded linear DNA molecule with inverted terminal repeats about 100 base pairs (bp) in length1,2 and a terminal protein covalently linked to the 5′ nucleotide of each strand3,4. Both of these features permit the formation of DNA circles, the inverted repeats allowing the circularization of single-stranded DNA5,6 and the terminal protein the joining of one or more molecules to yield double-stranded circles or concatemers7. However, although the existence of covalently closed circles has been postulated7, double-stranded viral DNA purified from virions or infected cells by conventional methods (that is, using proteases and phenol or chloroform) has always been obtained in a linear form8. Here we present evidence for the existence in adenovirus 5 (Ad5) infected cells of novel structures resulting from covalent head-to-tail joining of viral DNA molecules and show that these structures are due at least in part to the formation of covalently closed circles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Martha Ruben, Silvia Bacchetti & Frank Graham

  2. Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Frank Graham

Authors
  1. Martha Ruben
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  2. Silvia Bacchetti
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  3. Frank Graham
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Ruben, M., Bacchetti, S. & Graham, F. Covalently closed circles of adenovirus 5 DNA. Nature 301, 172–174 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/301172a0

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