DESCRIPTION: HCMV gene expression is characterized by three phases immediate early, early and late. The regulation of several viral early and late promoters is being actively examined by several groups and sequences which regulate these promoters in cis have been identified. However, these studies have been performed in transient expression as says rather than in the context of the viral genome. The goal of the proposed research is to analyze expression of three genes during viral expression. This will be accomplished by generating recombinant virus expressing promoter-reporter gene constructs; analyzing the kinetics of reporter gene expression at early and late times after infection and comparing these patterns to those of the endogenous gene; assessing cis-acting sequences that regulate early promoters; and analyzing early and late promoters in the presence and absence of viral DNA replication.