Simian virus 40-chinese hamster kidney cell interaction. II. The semipermissivity of the cell system.

Throughout in vitro passages, Chinese hamster kidney (CHK) cells progressively lost susceptibility to SV 40 virus infection while remaining continuously susceptible to viral DNA infection. Upon infection with SV 40 virus or viral DNA, the CHK cell line supported viral DNA and virus replication at a low level. SV 40 transformed CHK cell lines spontaneously produced small amounts of viral DNA and virions. The percentage of virus-producing cells was low. Various clones derived from each of these lines behaved as the parental cell population, leading to the conclusion that each CHK cell, whether transformed or not with SV 40, is potentially permissive for this virus.