Structures of two spliced herpes simplex virus type 1 immediate-early mRNA's which map at the junctions of the unique and reiterated regions of the virus DNA S component.

We have examined the structures of two herpes simplex virus type 1 immediate-early (IE) RNAs (IE mRNA-4 and IE mRNA-5) which map at the junctions of the unique (Us) and reiterated regions (TRs/IRs) of the virus DNA short component. Hybrids between IE cytoplasmic RNA and herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA restriction fragments were digested with single-strand-specific nucleases S1 and exonuclease VII, and the products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Data obtained with the nuclease digestion technique were confirmed by electron microscopy of R-loop structures formed with polyadenylated IE RNA and virus DNA fragments. It was found that both IE mRNA-4 and IE mRNA-5 contained a 260-base 5'-terminal cotranscript which mapped at equivalent loci within TRs/IRs. These 5'-terminal sequences were shown to be spliced to 3'-terminal cotranscripts of 1,450 bases (for IE mRNA-4) and 1,540 bases (for IE mRNA-5). The 3'-terminal cotranscripts contained sequences encoded by both TRs/IRs and opposite ends of Us, indicating that the introns contained by the IE mRNA-4 and IE mRNA-5 genes, found to be approximately 150 base pairs in size, mapped entirely within the reiterated sequences. The data suggest that these genes may contain common and unique components, and the implications of this model are discussed.