Studies of Fowl Plague Virus Temperature-sensitive Mutants with Defects in Transcription

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Abstract
Two fowl plague virus temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants belonging to different complementation groups were studied. Both were defective in the syntheses of unpolyadenylated complementary RNA [A(-)cRNA] and virus RNA (vRNA) at nonpermissive temperature; primary transcription was unaffected. Apparently, ts 29, in which the ts mutation is in gene 1 coding for polypeptide P3, has a defect in secondary synthesis of mRNA at non-permissive temperature; inhibition of mRNA synthesis by ts 131, in which the ts mutation is in gene 2 coding for polypeptide P1, appeared to result from a defect in vRNA synthesis. Evidently, different enzymes are responsible for the synthesis of virus mRNA and A(-)cRNA, which is consistent with the apparent differences in initiation and termination of transcription in the 2 reactions. The patterns of synthesis of the various types of virus RNA during infection are discussed.