Cytoplasmic factories, virus assembly, and DNA replication kinetics collectively constrain the formation of poxvirus recombinants.

ABSTRACT: Poxviruses replicate in cytoplasmic structures called factories and each factory begins as a single infecting particle. Sixty-years ago Cairns predicted that this might have effects on vaccinia virus (VACV) recombination because the factories would have to collide and mix their contents to permit recombination. We've since shown that factories collide irregularly and that even then the viroplasm mixes poorly. We've also observed that while intragenic recombination occurs frequently early in infection, intergenic recombination is less efficient and happens late in infection. Something inhibits factory fusion and viroplasm mixing but what is unclear. To study this, we've used optical and electron microscopy to track factory movement in co-infected cells and correlate these observations with

SUBMITTER: Kieser Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6964908 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature