Indiscriminate recombination in simian virus 40-infected monkey cells

DNA transfection of African green monkey BSC-1 cells with simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA and bacterial virus phi X174 replicative form DNA ("cotransfection") yielded stocks containing SV40/phi X174 recombinant virus, which was detected by an infectious-center in situ plaque hybridization procedure and which was sensitive to anti-SV40 antiserum. The recombinant virus replicated during serial passage. Restriction endonuclease cleavage of the SV40/phi X174 DNA indicated that several different types of recombinant DNA structures had arisen. Similar SV40 DNA cotransfection experiments with polyoma virus DNA, bacterial plasmid (pBR322) DNA, and a plasmid-cloned segment of the mouse genome (coding for intracisternal type A particles) yielded stocks that generated recombinant plaques as judged by in situ plaque hybridization with the appropriate labeled probe. It appears, therefore, that an active indiscriminate recombination process, incapable of distinguishing between diverse DNAs of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin, occurs in SV40-infected monkey cells.