Transcription of hepatitis B virus by RNA polymerase II.

We employed an in vitro cell-free transcription system to locate RNA polymerase II promoters on the hepatitis B virus genome. The strongest promoter precedes the surface antigen (HBsAg) gene, which is comprised of a long (500 base pairs) presurface region as well as the mature HBsAg coding sequence. The origin of this transcript was localized by using truncated templates and S1 endonuclease mapping. The activity of the promoter was confirmed in transfection experiments in which the complete HBsAg gene was introduced into monkey kidney cells via a simian virus 40 expression vector. A second RNA polymerase II promoter preceding the HBcAg gene was also active in the cell-free system. The presence of multiple promoters in the hepatitis B virus genome suggests that the relative levels of viral-specific proteins detected in liver and serum may reflect differential or regulated promoter efficiency.