The way in which ultraviolet-irradiated vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) inhibits the early events in VSV infection has been further characterized. Comparison of several different u.v.-irradiated thermolabile, temperature-sensitive mutants before and after heat inactivation established a requirement for inhibitory activity of functional G, N and L proteins, but not M protein. Defective-interfering (DI) particles, whether irradiated or not, inhibited VSV primary transcription as efficiently as UV-VSV, suggesting that virus proteins rather than transcription products are responsible for inhibition. Addition of inhibitory UV-VSV at different times after infection established that inhibition results from an action at an intracellular site, rather than at the cell surface or in the process of internalization. A similar inhibition by UV-VSV of infection by Sendai virus, Semliki Forest virus, Sindbis virus and influenza virus suggests that UV-VSV is acting by inducing a general change in the intracellular environment.