DNA Restriction Analysis of Ovine Adenoviruses 1 to 6 and Selected Unknown Strains of Bovine, Ovine and Llama adenoviruses

Eleven adenovirus strains including six ovine prototypes, three uncharacterized ovine and bovine isolates and two uncharacterized llama isolates were digested with four different restriction enzymes (RE). This investigation was conducted in order to identify their specific RE patterns which may help in comparing different isolates and assist in classification. Digested viral and cellular DNA samples were separated in 0."7% agarose gels, stained with ethidium bromide and visualized using an ultra violet light source. The enzymes BamHI, EcoRI, HindIII, and PstI were sufficient for differentiating the strains. Each enzyme digested the DNA of the viral sample differently and produced varying number of RE bands, ranging from 2-9. Digestion with the PstI enzyme produced more RE bands than others, while BamHI yielded fewer bands. Enzyme Pst} cleaved all the viral strains (13/13) into different number and size of bands while EcoRI did not digested all the strains (8/13). Bands cleaved by the different enzymes varied in molecular weight from 0.88 Kbp to 24.9 Kbp. Several of the viral isolates which were classified antigenically within a species yielded RE bands which were not identical by their RE patterns.