Mutants of adenovirus type 12 after adaptation to growth in tumor cell lines. II. Reproducible acquisition of additional sequences after adaptation to a human cervical cancer line.

Adaptation of adenovirus type 12 to growth in a human cervical cancer line (C4/1) results in the reproducible selection of viral mutants carrying additional DNA sequences at the right-hand end of the genome which range in size from 190 to 400 base pairs. The viral mutants have selective growth advantage in comparison to the non-affected wild type, even after subsequent passages in human KB cells, commonly used for adenovirus propagation. Detailed restriction endonuclease analysis of one of the mutant DNAs shows that the additional sequences are located within the terminal 195 base pairs of the right end of the genome.