Double strand interaction is the predominant pathway for intermolecular recombination of adeno-associated viral genomes.

Intermolecular recombination is the foundation for dual vector mediated larger gene transfer by recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV). To identify precursors for intermolecular recombination, we sequentially infected skeletal muscle with AAV LacZ trans-splicing viruses. At 1 month postinfection, nearly all inputting single-strand (ss) AAV genomes were cleared out in muscle. If ss-ss interaction is absolutely required for intermolecular recombination, LacZ expression from sequential infection will be negligible to that from coinfection. Interestingly, expression from sequential infection reached approximately 50% of that from coinfection at the 1-month time-point in BL6 mice. In immune deficient SCID mice, expression from sequential infection was comparable to that from coinfection at the 4- and 13-month time points. Our results suggest that ds interaction represents the predominant pathway for AAV intermolecular recombination.