Clones of virogenic simian virus 40 (SV40) -transformed hamster kidney cells were exposed to medium deficient in the essential amino acids leucine, arginine, or methionine. Infectious virus was induced after deprivation periods of from 24 to 32 hr. The highest yields of infectious SV40 were obtained from cultures deprived for 3 to 4 days. Infectious virus was also induced in cells that were treated with the metabolic inhibitor cycloheximide. Pulse labeling experiments revealed that both protein

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... synthesis and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis were inhibited by concentrations of cycloheximide which were effective for virus induction. It is suggested that inhibition of protein synthesis by either amino acid deprivation or by cycloheximide was responsible for the induction of infectious virus from virogenic cells. We postulate that the inhibition of protein synthesis caused a temporary inhibition of DNA synthesis which resulted in the induction of infectious virus. Amino acid deprivation. Amino acid deprivation experiments were carried out as follows. Medium was 448 on May 5, 2020 by guest