Novel forms of woodchuck hepatitis virus DNA isolated from chronically infected woodchuck liver nuclei

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Abstract
Several unique forms of woodchuck hepatitis virus, a DNA virus closely related to hepatitis B virus were cloned from a chronically infected woodchuck liver. Each of the 3 clones contained > 2 genome equivalents of viral sequences with extensive rearrangements and no detectable cellular sequences. From the frequency by which they were isolated from a library of recombinant clones, it was estimated that they are present in .apprx. 1 copy/cell. Of a total of 11 sites at which rearrangements were mapped in the clones, 10 occurred between segments of opposite polarity and 1 occurred between segments of the same polarity. The possible significance of these findings to the persistence of virus production in infected cells is discussed.