Physical mapping of a temperature-sensitive mutation of human cytomegalovirus by marker rescue.

Physical mapping of a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutation of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain AD-169 was attempted here using cloned HindIII restriction endonuclease fragments and the mutant virus. The DNA-positive mutant tested (HCMV ts 1585) was successfully rescued by viral DNA sequences between 0.277 and 0.303 map units. The product of this gene is apparently a structural protein of molecular weight 40,000. Marker rescue could thus be used to establish the physical location of essential HCMV genes, even if the viral DNA molecule is extremely large and complex.