FIG. 1.

Transcription of vPK (ORF36). (A) Schematic diagram of the KSHV genome structure and gene organization of ORF36 region. Positions of probes for Northern blotting are indicated by ORF number: 34 (nt 55042 to 55346), 35 (nt 55639 to 55872), 36 (nt 56415 to 56812), 37 (nt 58022 to 58392), and 38 (nt 58688 to 58843). The nucleotide number corresponds to the sequence of accession no. U75698. Putative direction and coding regions are shown as arrows. The direction of transcripts and their coding regions were determined from the size and position of the polyadenylation site. (B) Northern blot analysis. After induction of K-Rta expression, total RNA was prepared at the indicated time points. Ten micrograms was loaded per lane, electrophoresed, and transferred to nylon membranes. The results of Northern hybridization with the indicated probes are shown. (C) Classification of ORF36 transcripts. The TREx-K-Rta BCBL-1 cell line was induced with DOX in the presence of 300 μg/ml of PAA. Ten micrograms of total RNA was loaded per lane. The results of Northern hybridization with the ORF36 probe are shown (left). Transcripts were quantified (right) by using Quantity-One (Bio-Rad). The highest transcript level was normalized to a value of 100%.