Site of premature termination of late transcription of simian virus 40 DNA: enhancement by 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole.

Sedimentation analysis of pulse-labeled RNA synthesized in nuclei isolated from simian virus 40-infected cells revealed an abundance of short cellular and viral RNAs. The relative amount of the short chains is increased in nuclei isolated from cells treated with 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB). The short viral RNAs were purified by hybridization to and elution from simian virus 40 DNA on filters, and their sizes were determined by gel electrophoresis. A major band of 93- to 95-nucleotide-long RNA was observed along with additional minor bands. Identical bands were revealed when the viral RNA was purified from nuclei of cells pretreated with DRB. The major band was identified as an aborted transcript of a RNA that initiated at the major initiation site (nucleotide 243). We have found that the DNA region where the RNA stops is A+T rich and is immediately preceded by a G+C-rich region that exhibits dyad symmetry, resembling the termination signal in prokaryotes. These observations show that RNA polymerase II responds to the same termination signal as the prokaryotic enzyme and suggest that a mechanism of attenuation regulates simian virus 40 late transcription.