Controls of RNA splicing and termination in the major late adenovirus transcription unit.

The major late adenovirus promoter is active early after infection, selectively producing messenger RNAs coding for polypeptides with molecular weights of 55,000, 52,000 and 14,000. This selective expression suggests that a differential splicing pattern occurs at the transition from early to late viral gene expression. Activation of the late promoter and splicing of the 55, 52K mRNAs does not require newly synthesized virus polypeptides.