Construction and initial characterization of an infectious plasmid clone of a newly identified hamster parvovirus

The construction and characterization of a full-length infectious plasmid clone of the newly identified hamster parvovirus (HaPV) are described. Following transfection of hamster BHK cells with the infectious clone, pHaPV, the specific intracellular DNA replicative forms, RNA transcripts and viral proteins that were expected for this rodent parvovirus were generated. Infected cells were lysed and progeny virus was produced, demonstrating that pHaPV could generate a productive virus infection. The complete sequences of both hairpin termini, which had not been previously determined, were obtained. Preliminary host-range studies, which compared virus production and macromolecular synthesis in various cell lines following either HaPV infection or pHaPV transfection, demonstrated an early block of infection of HaPV in both monkey COS-1 and murine A9 cells. The availability of an HaPV infectious clone will facilitate its genetic analysis and allow the elucidation of the determinants important in host range, tissue tropism and pathogenicity of this newly identified rodent parvovirus.