An 85-kilodalton herpes simplex virus type 1 alpha trans-induction factor (VP16)-VP13/14 fusion protein retains the transactivation and structural properties of the wild-type molecule during virus infection.

The 65-kDa herpes simplex virus type 1 encoded alpha trans-induction factor (alpha TIF or VP16) has two important functions: it is required for the efficient transcriptional induction of the alpha or immediate-early genes, and it acts as an essential structural component of the virion. The transcription properties of alpha TIF have been well studied in vitro. The protein is a powerful inducer of RNA polymerase II-directed transcription and, similar to the cellular transcriptional transactivators GAL4 and CGN4, contains separable DNA binding and transactivation domains. In contrast, little is known about the structural function of alpha TIF because this function can be studied only during virus replication and structural mutants are lethal. The in vivo analysis of alpha TIF is further complicated by the likelihood that the transcription and structural functions are not entirely separable. In this study, we take an alternate approach toward the development of alpha TIF mutants and their subsequent characterization. Rather than analyzing the effects of intragenic mutations, we have examined the properties of a mutant virus which expresses an alpha TIF fusion protein containing 61 amino acids of another herpes simplex virus type 1 virion protein, VP13/14, fused to its C terminus. This is the first report which demonstrates that the C-terminus of alpha TIF can tolerate the addition of an adjacent protein domain without compromising its transactivation function in vivo. Moreover, the VP13/14 sequences do not interfere with the protein-protein interactions required for virion targeting and assembly.