Structure and function of DNA binding proteins from revertants of adenovirus type 5 mutants with a temperature-sensitive DNA replication.

H5ts107 and H5ts125 are two adenoviruses type 5 (Ad5) mutants with a temperature-sensitive DNA replication. Both mutants contain an altered gene encoding the DNA binding protein (DBP). We have established by nucleotide sequence analysis that both mutants carry exactly the same mutation in the DBP gene resulting in the substitution of a proline residue at position 413 in the wild-type DBP amino acid sequence (529 amino acid residues long) by a serine residue. Revertants of H5ts107 and H5ts125, which are temperature independent in plaque efficiency and growth in HeLa cells at 32 degrees and 39 degrees, were characterized by nucleotide sequence analysis of their DBP genes. Four types of revertants could be distinguished: revertants with the wild-type DBP amino acid sequence (type I) and, revertants carrying, in addition to the original H5ts107/H5ts125 mutation at position 413, intragenic second site mutations at position 508 histidine leads to tyrosine (type II), at position 352 glycine leads to aspartic acid (type III), and at position 347 alanine leads to proline (type IV), respectively. All intragenic second site mutations are located, together with the H5ts107/H5ts125 mutation, in the C-terminal 45-kD fragment of the adenovirus DBP molecule. This provides further evidence that this part of the DBP molecule plays an important role in viral DNA replication. Phenotypic characterization of the revertants (J.C. Nicolas, F. Suarez, A.J. Levine, and M. Girard (1981), Virology 108, 521-524; (J.C. Nicolas, D. Ingrand, P. Sarnow, and A.J. Levine (1982), Virology 122, 481-485) has shown that the second site mutations reveal additional functional domains in the DBP molecule.