Systematic excision of vector sequences from the BAC-cloned herpesvirus genome during virus reconstitution

Recently the mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) genome was cloned as an infectious bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) (M. Messerle, I. Crnkovic, W. Hammerschmidt, H. Ziegler, and U. W. Koszinowski, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, USA 94:14759-14763, 1997). The virus obtained from this construct is attenuated in vivo due to deletion of viral sequences and insertion of the BAC vector. We reconstituted the full-length MCMV genome and banked the BAC vector with identical viral sequences. This new construct represents a versatile basis for construction of MCMV mutants since virus generated from the construct loses the bacterial sequences and acquires wild-type properties.