Early functions of poliovirus. II. The RNA replication of hydroxylamine-inactivated polioviruses.

If cells are exposed to a mixture of hydroxylamine inactivated and infectious viruses the total rate of viral RNA-replication is lower than if the cells are infected with the same number of infectious viruses alone. This inhibitory influence of inactivated viruses depends on the ratio of infectious: inactivated viruses in the inoculum. One lethal hit by hydroxylamine suffices to produce the effect. In fact, viruses with few lethal hits inhibit more strongly than those with many lethal hits in their genome. There is also no replication of viral RNA with lethal hits if the cells are infected simultaneously both with active and inactive virus.