Comparative studies of herpesvirus papio (baboon herpesvirus) DNA and Epstein-Barr virus DNA

An Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-like herpesvirus has been isolated from a baboon cell line (594S/F9) by induction with the tumour promoter 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The herpesvirus papio (HVP) DNA was mixed with B95 EBV DNA and was characterized by sedimentation in neutral glycerol gradient as 55S DNA, with a buoyant density of approx. 1.718 g/ml after equilibrium centrifugation in caesium chloride. DNA-DNA reassociation kinetics between B95 EBV and HVP DNA showed that HVP DNA shares about 40% homology with B95 EBV DNA. Blot hybridization of EcoRI fragments of HVP DNA with a 32P-B95 EBV DNA probe showed that most of the EcoRI fragments of HVP DNA were hybridized to B95 EBV DNA, suggesting that the homologous sequences were dispersed throughout the virus DNA.