Initiation and regulation of simian virus 40 early transcription in vitro.

We have studied initiation and regulation of early transcription of simian virus (SV40) DNA in vitro by eucaryotic RNA polymerase II, using both a crude HeLa cell extract and a partially purified calf thymus polymerase supplemented with a HeLa cell S100 fraction. Analysis of initiation sites by primer-directed cDNA synthesis and sequencing of cDNA's has revealed that early transcription is initiated at a multiplicity of sites corresponding to the 5' termini of early viral mRNA's. The pattern of in vitro initiation closely resembles the pattern of 5' termini of early mRNA's late in the lytic cycle, with principal initiations between residues 5184 to 5194, upstream from the early Hogness-Goldberg (TATA) sequence, and at residue 5123, well downstream from this sequence. In vitro transcription is initiated to a lesser extent at sites between residues 5150 and 5155, the principal 5' termini of early mRNA's in transformed cells and early in lytic infection, located 21 to 26 nucleotides downstream from the TATA sequence. Initiation occurs at identical sites and with similar efficiencies on form I and linearized DNA templates. There are minor differences in the efficiency of initiation at specific sites by the two transcriptional systems. Studies using a DNA template cleaved just downstream from the TATA sequence and a second template cleaved through a pair of 72-base-pair tandem repeats starting 87 nucleotides upstream from the TATA sequence have revealed that neither the TATA sequence nor the repeats are essential for early transcription in vitro. However, removal of the TATA and upstream sequences shifts initiation of transcription principally to the residue 5123 site. Comparison of the relative efficiencies of transcription on intact wild-type DNA, the two cleaved DNAs, and DNA from a deletion mutant suggests that all or most of the sequences constituting an early promoter lie within the genomic region 60-70 to 140 nucleotides upstream from the principal 5' termini of the early mRNA's.