Adenoviruses have homology with a reiterated sequence in genomic DNA

The DNAs of human adenovirus types 2 and 5 (Ad2, Ad5) hybridize to genomic DNAs from human and chicken tissue. The pattern of Southern blot hybridization to genomic DNA digested with Eco RI suggests that sequences homologous to cloned Ad2 DNA are reiterated in genomic DNA. This was confirmed by liquid hybridization which shows that the hybrids have a low C0t 1/2 value. Finally, we show that total genomic human DNA probes hybridize to short fragments of adenoviral DNA in early-region genes near the ends of the viral genome.