Inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis in hamster kidney cells infected with western equine encephalitis virus.

Infection of BHK cells with western equine encephalitis (WEE) virus resulted in rapid inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis. The rate of inhibition of DNA synthesis depended on the multiplicity of infection, and was closely related to virus replication. Cellular DNA synthesis was not inhibited in infected BHK cells that had been irradiated with ultraviolet radiation. These results indicated that a functional viral genome was required for the inhibition of DNA synthesis by WEE virus. The sharp decrease in thymidine incorporation into the acid-insoluble fraction was not due to a change in the intracellular pool of the acid-soluble fraction. Sedimentation analysis in alkaline sucrose gradients was used to show that cellular DNA was not degraded during WEE viirus infection. DNA polymerase activity in infected cells was not significantly reduced.