Comparison of white pock (h) mutants of monkeypox virus with parental monkeypox and with variola-like viruses isolated from animals

Abstract

Monkeypox mutants arising spontaneously or after serial, high multiplicity passage were characterized phenotypically and by restriction endonuclease mapping. Some resemble whitepox and variola viruses in several of the markers tested but all are distinguishable phenotypically from these. None resembles whitepox viruses in genome structure although nearterminal deletions or symmetrical terminal rearrangements relative to parental monkeypox occurred. Whitepox viruses isolated from animals closely resemble variola in phenotype and genome structure.