FIG. 5.

Viral MIE gene transcription with the wt and recombinant viruses. (A) Steady-state IE1 mRNA levels at 24 h p.i. were analyzed with an IE1 probe by Northern blotting as described in Materials and Methods. 28S and 18S ribosomal RNAs served as controls for equal amounts of RNA loading. (B) Kinetics of MIE gene transcription for the wt and dl(−55 and −75)+F recombinant viruses, assayed by real-time PCR. HFF cells were infected with the wt or dl(−55 and −75)+F recombinant virus at an MOI of 3. Total RNAs were purified in parallel at 1.5, 3.0, 7.0, 12, and 24 h p.i., and levels of IE1 and IE2 transcripts were analyzed by real-time PCR as described in Materials and Methods. Values were calculated relative to the level of the wt transcripts at 24 h.p.i. Data are averages of three independent experiments.