Cell extracts of FM3A mouse cells replicate polyomavirus (Py) DNA in the presence of immunoaffinitypurified Py large T antigen, deoxynucleoside triphosphates, ATP, and an ATP-generating system. This system was used to examine the effects of mutations within or adjacent to the Py core origin (on) region in vitro. The analysis of plasmid DNAs containing deletions within the early-gene side of the Py core ori indicated that sequences between nucleotides 41 and 57 define the early boundary of Py DNA replication in vitro. This is consistent with previously published studies on the early-region sequence requirements for Py replication in vivo. Deleting portions of the T-antigen high-affinity binding sites A and B (between nucleotides 57 and 146) on the early-gene side of the core on led to increased levels of replication in vitro and to normal levels of replication in vivo. Point mutations within the core ori region that abolish Py DNA replication in vivo also reduced replication in vitro. A mutant with a reversed orientation of the Py core on region replicated in vitro, but to a lesser extent than wild-type Py DNA. Plasmids with deletions on the late-gene side of the core on, within the enhancer region, that either greatly reduced or virtually abolished Py DNA replication in vivo replicated to levels similar to those of wild-type Py DNA plasmids in vitro. Thus, as has been observed with simian virus 40, DNA sequences needed for Py replication in vivo are different from and more stringent than those required in vitro.Replication of polyomavirus (Py) DNA proceeds bidirectionally from a fixed point within the noncoding region of the viral genome (for a review, see reference 16 and references therein). This replication origin (ori) region (Fig. 1) contains multiple T-antigen (T Ag)-binding sites within a G+C-rich 32-base-pair (bp) sequence of dyad symmetry adjacent to a region in which 13 of 14 residues form A * T pairs. It thus bears structural features similar to the replication ori of simian virus 40 (SV40). However, the relationship of the Py ori to other regulatory signals in the noncoding segment is somewhat different from that of SV40. The number and arrangement of large T Ag high-affinity binding sites on the early side of both viral ori regions differ. Also, the relative affinities of Py and SV40 T Ags for binding sites within their respective ori regions are apparently dissimilar (12,14,28,47). Moreover, while both viruses encode enhancer elements, the Py enhancer is almost directly adjacent to the late boundary of the ori region and consists of a series of discrete elements that bear homologies to other enhancer elements including those of SV40, adenovirus Ela, and mouse immunoglobulin genes (2,22,23,26,31,38,46,51,53). By contrast, the SV40 enhancer, a 72-bp repeated sequence (see reference 22 and references therein), is separated from the core ori by a series of G+C-rich sequences (the 21-bp repeats) that form a distinct transcriptional control element to which the cellular transcription factor, Spl, binds (...