Functional heterogeneity of virions in human adenovirus types 2 and 12.

Purified preparations of adenovirus types 2 and 12 were used to infect KB cells at different input multiplicities. The resulting infected cultures were scored for inclusion body formation, production of infectious centers, and cloning efficiency. Both preparations were found to contain some defective particles capable of preventing a cell from cloning but unable to induce inclusion bodies or form plaques. The proportion of such defective particles in adenovirus 12 was about 10 times that in adenovirus 2. At high input multiplicities, the percentage of cells displaying an inclusion body was less than that predicted by the Poisson distribution and reached a maximum of 40 to 60% for adenovirus 2 and 12 to 15% for adenovirus 12. This reduction may be due to interference by large numbers of non-plaque-producing particles infecting each cell. The per cent of cells forming infectious centers was substantially greater for adenovirus 2 than for adenovirus 12 when compared at the same input plaque-forming units, reaching a maximum of 35 to 73% for adenovirus 2 and 5 to 10% for adenovirus 12. The low value for adenovirus 12 may be a result of the same interference phenomenon.