Regulation of Sendai virus transcription: evidence for a single promoter in vivo.

The synthesis of Sendai virus RNA species was examined after UV irradiation of cells late in infection. Compared with the inactivation of 50S genomic RNA synthesis, the synthesis of the group of mRNA species that sediments at 18S was inactivated at an average rate consistent with a process of sequential transcription from a single promoter. The rates of inactivation of the synthesis of individual mRNA's separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis confirmed this and, with the aid of additional data, suggested that the order of genes in the Sendai virus genome is: 3'-NP-Fo-M-P-HM-L-5'.