A new technique for the assay of infectivity of human adenovirus 5 DNA

A new technique for assaying infectivity of adenovirus 5 DNA has been developed. Viral DNA was diluted in isotonic saline containing phosphate at a low concentration, and calcium chloride was added, resulting in the formation of a calcium phosphate precipitate. DNA coprecipitated with the calcium phosphate and, when the resulting suspension was added to human KB cell monolayers, became adsorbed to the cells. Following adsorption, uptake of DNA into the cells occurred during an incubation in liquid medium at 37 ° in the continued presence of extra calcium chloride.For adenovirus 5 DNA the assay resulted in up to 100-fold more plaques than could be obtained using DEAE-dextran. Furthermore a reproducible relationship between amounts of DNA inoculated per culture and numbers of plaques produced was demonstrated. The assay was most efficient at high DNA concentrations (10–30 μg/ml); below this range the addition of carrier DNA was necessary for optimum results.In addition to adenovirus 5 DNA, the technique has been used successfully to assay infectivity of DNA from adenovirus 1 and simian virus 40.