Biochemical studies on adenovirus multiplication. 13. Synthesis of virus-specific ribonucleic acid during infection with human adenovirus type 12.

The transcription of virus-specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) was studied in KB cells infected with adenovirus type 12 (strain Huie). Viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis began at 12 to 15 hr after infection, and virus maturation occurred between 20 and 50 hr after infection. The rate of incorporation of (3)H-uridine into RNA per infected cell was stimulated, reaching a maximum of 1.6 times that of uninfected cells at 20 hr after infection. "Early" viral messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) constituted 0.1% of RNA synthesized at 11 hr, and "late" viral mRNA constituted 50% of RNA synthesized at 45 hr after infection, as determined by hybridization of viral DNA with labeled RNA from infected cells pulse labeled with (3)H-uridine. The species of virus-specific RNA synthesized at 22 hr after infection (when virus maturation has just begun) and at 45 hr (when virus maturation is nearly complete) were studied further: (i) 22- and 45-hr RNA had the same average guanine plus cytosine content, 47%, (ii) 22- and 45-hr RNA contained mostly the same viral nucleotide sequences, (iii) 45-hr RNA had a five times higher concentration of virus-specific RNA molecules than did 22-hr RNA, and (iv) 22- and 45-hr RNA contained virus-specific nucleotide sequences transcribed from all, or nearly all, of the viral genome.