The fidelity of homologous recombination in vaccinia virus (VV) DNA wa
s examined by constructing a viral recombinant whose genome contained
a copy of the Escherichia coli lac z gene in which the central third o
f the gene was repeated on either side of the W thymidine kinase (tk)
gene. In this virus, homologous DNA recombination and consequent excis
ion of the tk gene were necessary to restore the open reading frame fo
r beta-galactosidase and thereby to confer a lac z(+) phenotype. Impre
cise recombination was predicted to increase the frequency of lac z(-)
virus. However, after several passages during which almost every vira
l genome underwent homologous recombination, the frequency of lac z(-)
plaques was indistinguishable from that of a control virus that could
express beta-galactosidase without prior recombination. We conclude t
hat homologous recombination in W DNA occurs with perfect fidelity at
least 99% of the time. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.