Multiple 3' ends of mRNA encoding vaccinia virus growth factor occur within a series of repeated sequences downstream of T clusters

Analysis of the 5' ends of six apparently full-length cloned cDNA copies of the vaccinia virus growth factor gene suggested precise transcriptional initiation at the first purine following a run of five pyrimidines in the noncoding strand. By contrast, the 3' ends exhibited heterogeneity and were distributed over a 46-base-pair region. In each of the six cDNAs, the nucleotide immediately preceding the retained copy of the poly(A) tail corresponded to the first or second T of a TATGT repeat. Clusters of Ts occurred upstream of the 3' ends, but the AATAAA polyadenylation consensus sequence of higher eucaryotes was absent. Determination of the complete sequence of one cDNA revealed exact correspondence with the vaccinia virus growth factor gene, indicating the absence of internal RNA processing.