Cell killing by simian virus 40: impairment of membrane formation and function.

Simian virus 40 infection of the CV-1 line of green monkey kidney cells results in the release of mitochondrial malic dehydrogenase as early as 24 h. Released malic dehydrogenase is detected in the cytoplasm prior to its appearance in the overlay medium. Infected cells lose the ability to consume oxygen between 48 and 56 h, and damage to the elctron transport system is indicated. Nevertheless, cellular ATP levels remain high as late as 72 h. Infection leads to a stimulation of membrane phospholipid synthesis, which reaches a peak at about 32 h. This is followed by a severe decline in new membrane synthesis, which correlates in time with the release of cytoplasmic lactic dehydrogenase into the overlay media. Lactic dehydrogenase release precedes the accumulation of trypan blue-stainable cells by about 6 h. Infection had no effect on the turnover of prelabeled membrane phospholipids. An early simian virus 40 mutant, tsA58, and a late mutant, tsB11, are both less effective than wild-type virus at causing reduced levels of phospholipid synthesis, enzyme release, and the accumulation of trypan blue-stainable cells. Another late mutant, tsB8, is similar to wild-type virus in these respects. At 64 h, there is no detectable cell-associated lactic dehydrogenase and nearly all the cells are trypan blue stainable. Nevertheless, at concentrations of deoxyglucose in the medium below the transport Km, deoxyglucose uptake was similar in infected and control cultures. With higher concentrations of deoxyglucose in the medium, uptake by the infected cultures exceeded that by the control cultures.     

Phenotype-specific phosphorylation of simian virus 40 tsA mutant large T antigens in tsA N-type and A-type transformants.

To identify molecular differences between simian virus 40 (SV40) tsA58 mutant large tumor antigen (large T) in cells of tsA58 N-type transformants [FR(tsA58)A cells], which revert to the normal phenotype after the cells are shifted to the nonpermissive growth temperature, and mutant large T in tsA58 A-type transformants [FR(tsA58)57 cells], which maintain their transformed phenotype after the temperature shift, we asked whether the biological activity of these mutant large T antigens at the nonpermissive growth temperature might correlate with phosphorylation at specific sites. At the permissive growth temperature, the phosphorylation patterns of the mutant large T proteins in FR(tsA58)A (N-type) cells and in FR(tsA58)57 (A-type) cells were largely indistinguishable from that of wild-type large T in FR(wt648) cells. After a shift to the nonpermissive growth temperature, no significant changes in the phosphorylation patterns of wild-type large T in FR(wt648) or of mutant large T in FR(tsA58)57 (A-type) cells were observed. In contrast, the phosphorylation pattern of mutant large T in FR(tsA58)A (N-type) cells changed in a characteristic manner, leading to an apparent underphosphorylation at specific sites. Phosphorylation of the cellular protein p53 was analyzed in parallel. Characteristic differences in the phosphorylation pattern of p53 were observed when cells of N-type and A-type transformants were kept at 39 degrees C as opposed to 32 degrees C. However, these differences did not relate to the different phenotypes of FR(tsA58)A (N-type) and FR(tsA58)57 (A-type) cells at the nonpermissive growth temperature. Our results, therefore, suggest that phosphorylation of large T at specific sites correlates with the transforming activity of tsA mutant large T in SV40 N-type and A-type transformants. This conclusion was substantiated by demonstrating that the biological properties as well as the phosphorylation patterns of SV40 tsA28 mutant large T in cells of SV40 tsA28 N-type and A-type transformants were similar to those in FR(tsA58)A (N-type) and in FR(tsA58)57 (A-type) cells, respectively. The phenotype-specific phosphorylation of tsA mutant large T in tsA A-type transformants probably is a cellular process induced during establishment of SV40 tsA A-type transformants, since tsA28 A-type transformant cells could be obtained by a large-T-dependent in vitro progression of cells of the tsA28 N-type transformant tsA28.3 (M. Osborn and K. Weber, J. Virol. 15:636-644, 1975).     

Temperature dependency for maintenance of transformation in mouse cells transformed by simian virus 40 tsA mutants.

Mouse embryo fibroblasts and 3T3 cells were transformed by wild-type, tsB4, tsA7, tsA58, and tsA209 simian virus 40. Clones of transformants were generated both in soft agar and in liquid medium by focus formation and at both high and relatively low multiplicities of infection. All transformants were assayed for three phenotypes of transformation: (i) the ability to form highly multinucleated cells in cytochalasin B-supplemented medium, i.e., uncontrolled nuclear division; (ii) the capacity to continue DNA synthesis at increasing cell density; and (iii) the ability to form colonies in soft agar. The great majority of mouse embryo fibroblast transformants generated with tsA mutant virus were temperature sensitive for transformation in all three assays, regardless of the input multiplicity or whether they were generated in liquid medium or soft agar. These transformants exhibited a normal or near-normal phenotype at the nonpermissive temperature of 40 degrees C. All but one of the transformants which appeared transformed at both temperatures were in the A209 group. In contrast to mouse embryo fibroblasts, transformants generated with 3T3 cells and tsA virus were often not temperature sensitive, exhibiting the transformation phenotypes at both temperatures. This phenomenon was more often observed when 3T3 transformants were generated in soft agar. These results, along with other published data, suggest that uncontrolled nuclear division and uncontrolled DNA synthesis are a function of the simian virus 40 A gene. Finally, with the 3T3 transformants, there was often discordance in the expression of transformation among the three phenotypes. Some tsA transformants were temperature sensitive in one of two assays but were transformed at both 33 and 40 degrees C in the remaining assay(s). Other transformants exhibited a normal cytochalasin B response at either temperature but were temperature sensitive in the other assays.     

Induction of an error-prone mode of DNA repair in UV-irradiated monkey kidney cells

The survival of UV-irradiated simian virus 40 (SV40) on UV-irradiated monkey kidney CV-1P cells at 33° was increased over survival on unirradiated cells. During this process — called induced-virus reactivation — the progeny virus yielded by UV-irradiated cells had a much higher mutation frequency than did the progeny from unirradiated cells. Mutation rates were quantified by using phenotypic reversion towards wild-type growth of an early (tsA 58) or a late (tsB 201) temperature-sensitive SV40 mutant. Analysis of SV40 revertant genomes indicated that no detectable deletions or additions were resposible for the reversion process.These results suggest that enzymes from UV-irradiated cells are able to replicate UV-irradiated DNA by an error-prone mode of DNA repair. Induced virus reactivation and error-prone replication are probably one of the expressions of SOS functions in mammalian cells.     

Thermally inactivated simian virus 40 tsA58 mutant T antigen cannot initiate viral DNA replication in vitro.

The mutation in the temperature-sensitive tsA58 mutant T antigen (Ala-438----Val) lies within the presumptive ATP-binding fold. We have constructed a recombinant baculovirus that expresses large quantities of the tsA58 T antigen in infected insect cells. The mutant T antigen mediated simian virus 40 origin-containing DNA (ori-DNA) synthesis in vitro to nearly the same extent as similar quantities of wild-type T antigen at 33 degrees C. However, if wild-type and tsA58 T antigens were heated at 41 degrees C in replication extracts prior to addition of template DNA, the tsA58 T antigen but not the wild type was completely inactivated. The mutant protein displayed greater thermosensitivity for many of the DNA replication activities of T antigen than did the wild-type protein. Some of the replication functions of tsA58 T antigen were differentially affected depending on the presence or absence of ATP during the preheating period. When tsA58 T antigen was preheated in the presence of ATP at 41 degrees C for a time sufficient to completely inactivate its ability to replicate ori-DNA in vitro, it displayed substantial ATPase and normal DNA helicase activities. Conversely, when preheated in the absence of nucleotide, it completely lost both ATPase and helicase activities. Preheating tsA58 T antigen, even in the presence of ATP, led to drastic reductions in its ability to bind to and unwind DNA containing the replication origin. The mutant T antigen also displayed thermosensitivity for binding to and unwinding nonspecific double-stranded DNA in the presence of ATP. Our results suggest that the interactions of T antigen with ATP that are involved in T-antigen DNA binding and DNA helicase activities are different. Moreover, we conclude, consistent with its phenotype in vivo, that the tsA58 T antigen is defective in the initiation but not in the putative elongation functions of T antigen in vitro.     

Recombination Between Endogenous and Exogenous Simian Virus 40 Genes. I. Rescue of a Simian Virus 40 Temperature-Sensitive Mutant by Passage in Permissive Transformed Monkey Lines

Passage of the simian virus 40 (SV40) temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant tsD202 at the permissive temperature in each of three permissive lines of SV40-transformed monkey CV1 cells resulted in the emergence of temperature-insensitive virus, which plated like wild-type SV40 at the restrictive temperature on normal CV1 cells. In independent experiments, the amount of temperature-insensitive virus that appeared after passage on transformed cells was from 10(3)- to 10(6)-fold greater than the amount of ts-revertant virus that appeared after an equal number of passages in nontransformed CV1 cells. The virus rescued by passage on transformed cells bred true upon sequential plaque purification, plated on normal CV1 cells with single-hit kinetics at the restrictive temperature, and displayed no selective growth advantage on transformed cells compared to non-transformed cells. Hence, the reversion of the ts phenotype is neither due to complementation effects nor to the selection of preexisting revertants, which grow better on transformed cells. In the accompanying article (T. Vogel et al., J. Virol. 24:541-550, 1977), we present biochemical evidence that the rescue of tsD202 mediated by passage on transformed cells is due to recombination with the resident SV40 genome. Parallel experiments in which tsA, tsB, and tsC SV40 mutants were passaged in each of the three permissive lines of SV40-transformed monkey cells resulted in either only borderline levels of rescue (tsA mutants) or no detectable rescue (tsB and tsC mutants). Evidence is presented that the resident SV40 genome of the transformed monkey lines is itself a late ts mutant, and we suggest that this accounts for the lack of detectable rescue of the tsB and tsC mutants. We furthermore suggest that the borderline level of rescue observed with two tsA mutants is related to a previous finding (Y. Gluzman et al., J. Virol. 22:256-266, 1977) which indicated that the resident SV40 genome of the permissive transformed monkey cells is defective in the function required for initiation of viral DNA synthesis.     

A simian virus 40 dl884/tsA58 double mutant is temperature sensitive for abortive transformation

We have constructed a dl884/tsA58 double mutant and a t+T- early-region deletion mutant and have used these mutants to study the roles of the simian virus 40 tumor antigens (T and t) in transformation. Our major conclusions are that (i) although the mutant tsA58 is not temperature sensitive for the maintenance of transformation, the dl884/tsA58 double mutant is; (ii) small t antigen can provide at least one, but not all, of the functions required for the maintenance of transformation; and (iii) at least two different functions are required for the maintenance of simian virus 40 transformation.     

Separation of lytic and transforming functions of the simian virus 40 A region: two mutants which are temperature sensitive for lytic functions have opposite effects on transformation.

Thirty-six of 40 rat cell clones transformed to anchorage independence at low multiplicity of infection by simian virus 40 tsA58 were heat sensitive for continued expression of the transformed phenotype. tsA1499 is an 81-base-pair deletion at 21 map units which is like tsA58 in that it is also heat sensitive for lytic growth, belongs to the A complementation group, and produces rat cell transformants which contain a thermolabile T antigen. Unlike tsA58, however, tsA1499 generated rat cell transformants efficiently at the temperature at which it was lytically defective, and 10 of 17 clones transformed by tsA1499 were cold rather than heat sensitive for the continued maintenance of the transformed phenotype. The lytic and transforming activities of the A region thus appeared to function independently in mutant tsA1499.     

Altered Protein Metabolism in Infection by the Late tsB11 Mutant of Simian Virus 40

The DNA of the temperature-sensitive mutant tsB11 is replicated at the same rate as the DNA of wild-type virus in infection at the restrictive temperature. The progeny mutant DNA cannot be distinguished from wild-type DNA by gel electrophoresis and is assembled into a nucleoprotein complex with the same velocity sedimentation characteristics as the wild-type complex. Analysis of in vivo protein synthesis by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoprecipitation techniques demonstrated that the capsid components VP1, VP2, and VP3 of the mutant and wild-type virus are synthesized at a similar rate, but VP1 fails to accumulate within cells infected by tsB11. Furthermore, VP1 is located predominantly in the cytoplasmic rather than in the nuclear fraction of extracts from cells infected by the mutant. Immunofluorescent studies localized virion antigen within the nucleolus as well as the cytoplasm. The altered intracellular distribution and stability of VP1 suggest that it may be the mutant protein of tsB11. The synthesis of a 72,000 dalton protein is consistently induced in significant quantity in cells infected by tsB11 at the restrictive temperature. A protein of the same apparent molecular weight is present in smaller quantities in uninfected cells and is only slightly increased in quantity in cells infected by wild-type virus.     

Two conditional tsA mutant simian virus 40 T antigens display marked differences in thermal inactivation.

We have characterized the simian virus 40 (SV40) origin-containing DNA (ori-DNA) replication functions of two SV40 conditional mutant T antigens: tsA438 A-V (tsA58) and tsA357 R-K (tsA30). Both tsA mutant T antigens, immunopurified from recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells, mediated replication of SV40 ori-DNA in vitro to similar extents as did wild-type T antigen in reactions at 33 degrees C. However, at 41 degrees C, the restrictive temperature, while tsA438 T antigen still generated substantial levels of replication products, tsA357 T antigen did not support any detectable DNA synthesis. Furthermore, preincubation for approximately fourfold-longer time periods at 41 degrees C was required to heat inactivate tsA438 T antigen than to heat inactivate tsA357 T antigen. Unexpectedly, results of analyses of the various DNA replication activities of the two mutant T antigens did not correlate with results from ori-DNA replication reactions. In particular, although tsA357 T antigen was incapable of mediating replication at 41 degrees C at all protein concentrations examined, it displayed either wild-type levels or only partial reductions of the several T-antigen replication-associated activities. These data suggest either that tsA357 T antigen is defective in an as yet unidentified replication function of T antigen or that the combination of its partial defects result in a protein that is unable to support replication. The data also show that two conditional mutant T antigens can be markedly different with respect to thermal sensitivity.     

Large-T-antigen-p53 complex formation is not cold sensitive in a cold-sensitive transformant induced by simian virus 40 mutant tsA1499

F111 rat cells transformed by simian virus 40 mutant tsA1499 are cold sensitive for the expression of transformation. Yet, unlike F111 cells transformed by tsA58, they do not lose the ability to stabilize the transformation-associated host cell protein p53 at the temperature at which transformation is extinguished.     

Simian virus 40 A gene function: further characterization and growth of tsA transformed chinese hamster cells

Chinese hamster embryo cells transformed with the tsA 58 mutant of Simian virus 40 express the transformed phenotype at the permissive temperature (33 degrees C or 37 degrees C) and a "normal" phenotype at the nonpermissive temperature (40.5 degrees C). Immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation of T antigens demonstrated that the "T" antigen (100 K) has an increase rate of synthesis and degradation at 40.5 degrees C. However, the cells continue to replicate at the nonpermissive temperature when assayed by flow cytometry and autoradiography. This DNA synthesis was cellular, not viral, and not owing to an increase in DNA repair. When the cell cycle distributions of G1, S, and G2 + M were assayed by the fraction labeled mitoses method, no differences were evident at the permissive and nonpermissive temperature; however, the doubling time was lengthened at 40.5 degrees C (13 hours vs. 100 hours). These results suggest that at 40.5 degrees C, the tsA transformed cells are cycling and dying. However, if the transformed cells are seeded onto monolayers of normal Chinese hamster cells at 40.5 degrees C, the cells are growth arrested when measured by growth assays, flow cytometry, autoradiography, and immunofluorescence for T antigen. Therefore, growth arrest can be obtained in tsA 58 transformed Chinese hamster cells when cocultured with normal Chinese hamster cells.     

Simian Virus 40-Host Cell Interactions II. Cytoplasmic and Nucleolar Accumulation of Simian Virus 40 Virion Protein

We have used immunofluorescence in parallel with transmission and scanning electron microscopy to characterize the unusual cytoplasmic and nucleolar accumulation of Simian virus 40 (SV40) virion protein (C antigen) at restrictive temperatures (39 to 41 C) in monkey cells infected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of SV40 defective in virion assembly, tsB11. Cytoplasmic and nucleolar accumulation of C antigen did not occur in wild-type-infected cells at any temperature. Wild-type- and tsBll-infected cells were not distinguishable at 33 C by immunofluorescence or electron microscopy. Temperature-shift experiments using metabolic inhibitors of DNA (cytosine arabinonucleoside, 20 mug/ml), RNA (actinomycin D, 5 mug/ml), and protein synthesis (cycloheximide, 2 x 10(-4) to 10 x 10(-4) M) were used to investigate the requirements for ongoing DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis in the distribution of virion protein between the nucleus, nucleolus, and cytoplasm. The transport of C antigen from the nucleolus and cytoplasm into the nucleus was complete after a temperature shift-down (41 and 39 to 33 C). Limited virus particle formation occurred after the shift-down in the presence of actinomycin D and cycloheximide, indicating some of the 39 to 41 C synthesized virion protein could be used for capsid assembly at 33 C in the absence of further virion protein synthesis. Nucleolar and cytoplasmic accumulations of C antigen occurred in the absence of drugs after a shift-up (33 to 39 C and 41 C) indicating a continuous requirement for the tsB11 mutant function. Furthermore, the virion protein synthesized at 33 C remained confined to the nucleus when the cells were shifted to 39 and 41 C in the presence of actinomycin D or cycloheximide. In the presence of cytosine arabinonucleoside, however, the virion protein accumulated in large aggregates in the nucleus and nucleolus after the shift-up, but did not migrate into the cytoplasm as it did in drug-free tsB11-infected control cells. Colchicine (10(-3) M) had no effect on the abnormal accumulation of C antigen during shift-up or shift-down experiments suggesting that microtubular transport plays little if any role in the abnormal transport of tsB11 virion protein from cytoplasm to nucleus. Although virus particles were never observed by electron microscopy and V antigen was not detected by immunofluorescence at 39 or 41 C in tsB11-infected cells, dense amorphous accumulations were formed in the nucleoli and cytoplasm. We suggest that the tsB11 function is continuously required for the normal transport of SV40 virion protein between the cytoplasm, nucleolus, and nucleus and for the assembly of capsids and virions. Several possible mechanisms for the altered tsB11 function or protein are discussed. One of the virion proteins may also be involved in some presently undetermined nucleolar function during SV40 productive infection.     

Simian virus 40 gene A regulation of cellular DNA synthesis. I. In permissive cells.

The kinetics of host cellular DNA stimulation by simian virus 40 (SV40) tsA58 infection was studied by flow microfluorometry and autoradiography in two types of productively infected monkey kidney cells (AGMK, secondary passage, and the TC-7 cell line). Prior to infection, the cell populations were maintained predominantly in G0-G1 hase of the cell cycle by low (0.25%) serum concentration. Infection of TC-7 or AGMK cells by wild-type SV40, viable deletion mutant dl890, or by SV40 tsA58 at 33 degrees C induced cells through S phase after which they were blocked with a 4N DNA content in the G2 phase. The infection of TC-7 cells by tsA58 at 41 degrees C, which was a nonpermissive temperature for viral DNA replication, induced a round of cell DNA synthesis in approximately 30% of the cell population. These cells proceeded through S phase but then re-entered the G1 resting state. In contrast, infection of AGMK cells by tsA58 at 41 degrees C induced DNA synthesis in approximately 50% of the cells, but this population remained blocked in the G2 phase. These results indicate that the mitogenic effect of the A gene product upon cellular DNA is more heat resistant than its regulating activity on viral DNA synthesis and that the extent of induction of cell DNA synthesis by the A gene product may be influenced by the host cell.     

The H-2KbtsA58 transgenic mouse: A new tool for the rapid generation of novel cell lines

The ability to generate expanded populations of individual cell types able to undergo normal differentiationin vitro andin vivo is of critical importance in the investigation of the mechanisms that underly differentiation and in studies on the use of cell transplantation to repair damaged tissues. This review discusses the development of a strain of transgenic mice that allows the direct derivation of conditionally immortal cell lines from a variety of tissues, simply by dissociation of the tissue of interest and growth of cells in appropriate conditions. In these mice the tsA58 mutant of SV40 large T antigen is controlled by the interferon-inducible Class I antigen promoter. Cells can be grown for extended periodsin vitro simply by growing them at 33°C in the presence of interferon, while still retaining the capacity to undergo normal differentiationin vivo andin vitro. In addition, it appears that cell lines expressing mutant phenotypes can readily be generated by preparing cultures from appropriate offspring of matings between H-2K^btsA58 transgenic mice and mutant mice of interest.     

Oligomerization of simian virus 40 large T antigen is not necessarily repressed by temperature-sensitive A gene lesions

Simian virus 40 large T antigen is a multifunctional protein which exists in different molecular weight forms. According to several reports, T antigen encoded by temperature-sensitive simian virus 40 A locus mutants (tsA) is unable to oligomerize into high-molecular-weight species. To try to correlate structural and functional properties, we selected tsA58 and tsA1499, both of which are heat sensitive for lytic growth, but only tsA58 is heat sensitive for transformation. Here we report that at permissive and nonpermissive temperatures, T antigen from tsA1499-infected monkey cells retained the ability to oligomerize, whereas reported previously, tsA58 T antigen failed to oligomerize at the nonpermissive temperature. Furthermore, we studied the formation of complexes between T antigen and the cellular p53 protein (T-p53) late in infection. Corresponding to its heat-stable oligomerization properties, T antigen encoded by tsA1499 formed T-p53 complexes regardless of temperature. In contrast, tsA58 encoded T-p53 complexes, preformed at the permissive temperature, remained heat stable after shifting up to the nonpermissive temperature; but at this temperature no new T-p53 complexes arose. The mutants did not replicate viral DNA at the nonpermissive temperature, suggesting that neither the oligomerization of T antigen nor the formation of T-p53 complexes seems to be sufficient for viral DNA replication or for the expression of late viral proteins.     

Phenotypic complementation of the SV40 tsA mutant defect in viral DNA synthesis following microinjection of SV40 T antigen.

African green monkey cells (CV-1P) were microinjected with highly purified SV40 T antigen using protein-loaded red cell ghosts and polyethylene glycol as fusagen. The microinjected cells were infected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of SV40 (tsA209) which is defective in the initiation of viral DNA synthesis. Using in situ hybridization as an assay method, we found that PEG-microinjection of both partially and highly purified T antigen resulted in an increase in the amount of viral DNA sequences in the monolayer. Moreover, 3H-thymidine-labeled and unlabeled Hirt supernatant from microinjected, tsA209-injected cells contained significantly more SV40 DNA than comparable extracts from sham-injected, tsA209-infected or uninfected cells, which were tested in parallel. Thus the introduction of highly purified, "large" SV40 T antigen led to phenotypic complementation of the tsA defect in viral DNA synthesis.     

Characterization of a new simian virus 40 mutant, tsA3900, isolated from deletion mutant tsA1499.

The simian virus 40 (SV40) mutant tsA1499 contains an 81-base-pair deletion in the region of A gene encoding the C-terminal portion of the large T antigen. This mutant is particularly interesting, since it is a temperature-sensitive mutant that is apparently able to separate the lytic growth and transforming functions of the SV40 large T antigen at 38.5 degrees C. We report the isolation of a tsA1499 revertant (tsA1499-Rev) which is no longer temperature sensitive for lytic growth but still contains the 81-base-pair deletion of tsA1499. Marker rescue experiments with tsA1499-Rev or wild-type strain 830 (wt830) DNAs revealed that the original tsA1499 mutant contained a second mutation within the HindIII-Fnu4HI restriction fragment between 0.425 and 0.484 map units. Sequencing of this DNA fragment from the tsA1499, tsA1499-Rev, and wt830 viruses revealed that tsA1499 contained a single-base transversion (C to G) at 0.455 map units (nucleotide 4261). This transversion resulted in the creation of a new RsaI cleavage site in the tsA1499 DNA and predicts an arginine-to-threonine substitution at amino acid position 186 in the mutant large T antigen. The DNA sequence of the tsA1499-Rev HindIII-Fnu4HI fragment was identical to that of wt830. To determine whether tsA1499 was temperature sensitive for lytic growth solely as a result of the newly discovered point mutation or because of a combination of the point and deletion mutations, a series of viruses were constructed which contained the point mutation, the deletion mutation, both mutations, or neither. This was done by ligating the PstI A and B DNA fragments from either tsA1499 or wt830 and transfecting the ligated DNA into BSC-1H monkey kidney cells. This experiment revealed that all viruses containing the point mutation (the tsA1499 PstI A DNA fragment) were temperature sensitive for lytic growth, regardless of the presence of the 81-base-pair deletion (the tsA1499 PstI B DNA fragment). This newly discovered point mutation, at nucleotide 4261, is therefore unique, since to our knowledge it is the first tsA mutation to be described in the 0.455-map-unit region of the SV40 genome. We then tested the effect of this unique mutation on the ability of the SV40 virus to transform cultured rat cells to anchorage independence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)