Transcription of methylated eukaryotic viral genes in a solublein vitrosystem

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Abstract
SV40 and adenovirus-2 (Ad2) recombinant plasmids containing long segments of poly(dC-dG) cloned adjacent to transcription control regions were methylated in vitro with Hhal methylase and transcribed in a soluble in vitro system. The addition of up to 40 or more base pairs of poly(m5 dC-dG) immediately upstsream or downstream of promoter regions was shown to have no effect on the accuracy or efficiency of specific transcription from these promoters in vitro. Methylation at various naturally occurring C-G sequences within or near these promoters also had no effect on transcription in vitro. The significance of these results with respect to possible mechanisms whereby DNA methylation might regulate eukaryotic gene expression is discussed.