Size, Composition, and Structure of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid of Herpes Simplex Virus Subtypes 1 and 2

Abstract

Studies of the size, composition, and structure of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the F and G prototypes of herpes simplex virus (HSV) subtypes 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) showed the following. (i) As previously reported by Good-heart et al. HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA have a buoyant density of 1.726 and 1.728 g/cm 3 , corresponding to 67 and 69 guanine ± cytosine moles per cent, respectively. The difference in guanine plus cytosine content of the DNA species was confirmed by the finding of a 1 C difference in T m . (ii) The DNA from purified virus on cocentrifugation with T4 DNA in neutral sucrose density gradients sedimented at 55 S , corresponding to 99 ± 5 million daltons in molecular weight. HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA could not be differentiated with respect to size. (iii) Cosedimentation of alkali-denatured DNA from purified virus with T4 DNA on alkaline sucrose density gradients consistently yielded several bands of single-stranded HSV DNA ranging from fragments 7 × 10 6 daltons to intact strands 48 × 10 6 daltons in molecular weight.