Abstract
In Vero monkey cells and HEp-2 human epidermoid carcinoma cells infected with herpes simplex virus 1 the proteins beta-COP, galactosyltransferase, and alpha-mannosidase II associated with the Golgi apparatus appear to be associated with numerous smaller structures dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Concomitantly, the intracytoplasmic ligands of lectins normally associated wholly (Helix pomatia or Ricinus communis agglutinin) or in part (wheat germ agglutinin) with the Golgi apparatus increased in amount and became dispersed. This phenomenon was seen in some of the baby hamster kidney cells analyzed but not in others and not in the human 143TK- cells. The fragmentation and dispersal of the Golgi apparatus was a late event in the reproductive cycle coinciding with virion assembly, processing of viral glycoproteins, and exocytosis from infected cells. The fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus is morphologically different from that seen with brefeldin A and may reflect disequilibration between the anterograde and retrograde Golgi transport caused by the huge influx of viral glycoproteins contained in virions and membranes flowing through the exocytic pathway.