title: Sequence and structural requirements of a herpes simplex viral DNA replication origin.
abstract: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 contain two classes of origins of DNA replication, oriS and oriL, which are closely related. A series of plasmids was constructed which contained specifically altered versions of the HSV type 2 oriS replication origin. Their ability to replicate in an in vivo replicon assay allowed a core origin of 75 base pairs (bp) to be defined. It included both arms of a 56-bp palindrome and from 13 to 20 bp of sequence leftward of the palindrome. The AT-rich sequence at the center of the palindrome was essential. Sequences on either side of the core origin enhanced replication. When additional copies of the -AT-dinucleotide were introduced progressively into the center of the palindrome, an oscillating effect on origin function was observed. These and other data implicate a linear rather than a cruciform conformation of the oriS palindrome in the initiation of HSV replication.
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98104.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lockshon
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Galloway
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004261:DNA Replication; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral