INTERMEDIATE CLASS OF MESSENGER-RNAS IN AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS

A transcriptional analysis of the African swine fever virus (ASFV) I22 6R and I243L genes is presented, Steady-state kinetics and transfectio n experiments showed the existence of a new temporal class of ASFV mRN As transcribed from these genes, with the characteristics of the poxvi rus intermediate transcripts, Transcription of the I226R gene gave ris e to intermediate and late mRNAs that started from different sites, wh ile the I243L gene produced early, intermediate, and late mRNAs, also starting from different sites, The presence of intermediate genes sugg ests a cascade model for the regulation of ASFV gene expression.