IN-VIVO REPLICATION OF THE HAMSTER POLYOMAVIRUS GENOME AND GENERATIONOF SPECIFIC DELETIONS IN THE PROCESS OF LYMPHOMAGENESIS

Hamster polyomavirus (HaPV) causes lymphomas when injected into newbor n hamsters. These tumors are virus-free but accumulate large amounts o f deleted extrachromosomal viral genomes. In order to identify the maj or sites of virus replication in animals, we have monitored the HaPV D NA present in different organs at various times after injection. The d ata demonstrate that viral replication preferentially occurs in lympho id organs. Lymphoma-associated viral genomes display specific deletion s. PCR analysis shows that such viral genomes are the only variants de tectable in infected animals, suggesting that they are generated by a specific cellular mechanism. We have tested the possible role of the l ymphoid cell-specific V(D)J recombination activity in the generation o f these specific variants. Our results indicate that this mechanism is not solely responsible for the viral genome rearrangement, if involve d at all.