Fig. 1.

Recombinant forms of HBV in vitro and in vivo. a The different open reading frames encoded by the genome, designated as polymerase (Pol), core and X are aligned to the three PCR fragments used during the PCR. The HBV polymerase covalently bound to the (−) DNA strand is shown by a black circle. Coloured circles represent differences in nucleotides from the input pCayw plasmid (yellow TG- > AG and CTG- > GAC, orange TT- > AA; red AC- > TG, blue TT- > AA, green GT- > CA, purple AG- > TC and TCC- > AGG). b PCR1, PCR2 and PCR3 were amplified under standard conditions. PCR1 + 2 + 3 represented the 410 bp recombinant forms. M molecular weight markers. c Collection of 164 PCR mediated recombinants. The order of the coloured circles distinguishes the different recombinant forms. The number and the frequency of recombinants are presented on the left. d Quantification by real-time PCR based on SYBR Green on serial dilution of the three PCR fragments. All fragments correspond to the 410 bp fragment. Only primer-dimers (PDs) were detected in the absence of DNA