Isolation, characterization, and comparison of recombinant DNAs derived from genomes of human hepatitis B virus and woodchuck hepatitis virus.

Abstract

The human hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) are closely related by several criteria and belong to the same class of DNA viruses. The DNA genomes from these viruses are difficult to obtain in quantities required for biochemical analysis. These 2 DNA were cloned in the vector [phage] .lambda.gtWES and subcloned into the kanamycin resistance plasmid pA01 [in Escherichia coli]. Comparison of the recombinant DNA with authentic viral DNA by specific hybridization, size and restriction enzyme analysis suggest that the recombinants contain the complete genome of each virus. The normal size of the cloned HBV genome was 3150 base pairs, compared to 3200 base pairs for the cloned WHV genome. The small amount of nucleic acid homology previously reported between the HBV and WHV DNA could be demonstrated between the cloned viral DNA.