Comparison of the polyoma virus early and late promoters by transcription in vitro

Polyoma virus DNA was transcribed in the HeLa whole cell extract in vitro system (1). Early region transcripts with the same 5'-ends as in vivo mRNAs, located 31 +/- 2bp from 'TATA'-boxes, were synthesized by RNA polymerase II. Sequences sufficient for efficient expression of the early promoter were present in a substitution mutant lacking viral DNA from a position 55bp before the principal cap sites. Late region transcripts were synthesised inefficiently. Only one (at nt5129 +/- 2) of the many late mRNA cap sites functioned as an in vitro initiation point. This was the one 5'-end located 31 +/- 2bp from a sequence resembling the 'TATA' consensus. The proportion of late to early region RNA polymerase II transcripts decreased dramatically at suboptimal template concentrations. An hypothesis to explain the regulation of late gene expression in vivo based on these results is proposed. A linear templates were transcribed only by RNA polymerase II, transcripts with the same sense as late mRNAs and 5'-ends at nt5076 +/- 2 were produced from superhelical template by an alpha amanitin resistant enzyme.