Preliminary characterization of a mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 selected for acycloguanosine resistance in vitro

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Abstract
In this paper we report on the preliminary characterization of a mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1) selected for acycloguanosine (acyclovir, ACV) resistance in vitro. The ACVr virus was examined for a series of parameters that include chemosensitivity assay, thymidine kinase (TK) activity, in vitro and in vivo growth, and mutation mapping. The data obtained indicate that a mutated TK gene is responsible for the ACVr phenotype. A distinctive feature of this mutant is the high level of resistance exhibited to ACV (100 μM) and the concomitant presence of a functional TK activity. Such a property makes this virus useful as a model for the study of viral resistance to nucleoside‐type analogues in HSV.