Human cytomegalovirus: bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) cloning and genetic manipulation

The understanding of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) biology was long hindered by the inability to perform efficient viral genetic analysis. This hurdle was recently overcome when the genomes of multiple HCMV strains were cloned as infectious bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs). The BAC system takes advantage of the single-copy F plasmid of E. coli that can stably carry large pieces of foreign DNA. In this system, a recombinant HCMV virus carrying a modified F plasmid is first generated in eukaryotic cells. Recombinant viral genomes are then isolated and recovered in E. coli as BAC clones. BAC-captured viral genomes can be manipulated using prokaryotic genetics, and recombinant virus can be reconstituted from BAC transfection in eukaryotic cells. The BAC reverse genetic system provides a reliable and efficient method to introduce genetic alterations into the viral genome in E.coli and subsequently analyze their effects on virus biology in eukaryotic cells.