Transformation of rat fibroblast cells with early mutants of polyoma (tsa) and simian virus 40 (tsA30): occurrence of either A or N transformants depends on the multiplicity of infection.

Abstract Infection of rat fibroblasts with early mutants of polyoma virus (tsa) or simian virus 40 (tsA30) leads to the establishment of either temperature-independent A transformants or N transformants temperature-sensitive for the expression of the transformed phenotype. The choice between the A- and N-transformed states is not only dependent, as we reported previously (Rassoulzadegan et al., j. Virol., 28:421-426, 1978), on the growth conditions after infection, but is also a function of the multiplicity of infection (MOI); high MOI led to the predominant occurrence of A derivatives, and lower MOI led to that of N transformants.