Characterization of the transcription profile of adeno-associated virus type 5 reveals a number of unique features compared to previously characterized adeno-associated viruses.

We report the initial characterization of adeno-associated virus type 5 (AAV5) RNAs generated following viral infection and the construction of a replicating infectious clone of AAV5. While the basic transcription profile of AAV5 was similar to that of AAV2, there were also significant differences. Mapping of the AAV5 transcripts demonstrated an efficient transcription initiation site within the AAV5 inverted terminal repeat (ITR), and mapping of the AAV5 intron revealed that it is considerably smaller than that of AAV2. Furthermore, in contrast to the case for AAV2, neither the Rep protein nor additional adenovirus gene products were required to achieve efficient promoter activity and pre-mRNA splicing following transfection of an AAV5 rep/cap plasmid clone lacking the ITRs into 293 cells. Perhaps most surprisingly, RNAs generated from both the AAV5 P7 and P19 promoters were efficiently polyadenylated at a site lying within the intronic region in the center of the genome. Because P7- and P19-generated transcripts are polyadenylated at this site and not spliced, Rep78 and Rep52 were the only Rep proteins detected during AAV5 infection.