A biological method for examining the effect of codon changes in a conserved region of DNA polymerase

The vaccinia virus genome encodes a DNA polymerase that is similar to other DNA polymerases. A mutation in the polymerase gene at a site that is adjacent to conserved residues allows viral replication in the presence of aphidicolin. Since wild-type virus is converted to aphidicolin-resistance by site-directed mutagenesis, it was feasible that active virus with substituted conserved residues could be detected by linking alterations to the aphidicolin-resistance mutation. Altered DNA, from a PCR, was introduced into virus by a marker transfer procedure. DNA from plaques of drug-resistant virus was amplified, and the product was sequenced to check for the conserved residue alteration. An alteration that introduced a Bg1I site was designed to facilitate the selection of drug-resistant virus containing substituted residues. One positive result was the replacement of two amino acids, tyrosine and alanine, by tryptophan and threonine. The failure to substitute aspartic acid for tyrosine indicates that drastic changes of the conserved sequence are not tolerated. Although the limitations associated with negative results apply, the method provides an in vivo assay for selecting a polymerase with conserved residue changes.