Posttranscriptional selection of simian virus 40-specific RNA.

Analysis of the viral-specific RNA in simian virus 40(SV40)-infected monkey kidney cells indicated the extensive transcription of both DNA strands. These symmetrically transcribed sequences were localized in the nucleus of infected cells, whereas only the "true" early and late SV40 transcripts were found in the cytoplasm. These results suggest that selective posttranscriptional degradation and/or transport occurs after transcription of the viral DNA. On the basis of hybridization experiments with cytoplasmic RNA and the separated strands of the SV40 Hin fragments, the early SV40 region appears to include all of Hin fragments A, H, I, and B (48% of the genome), whereas the late region is represented in Hin fragments C, D, E, K, F, J, and G (52% of the genome).