SV40 The replication of the circular, double-stranded DNA genome of SV40 relies
largely on the host cellular replication system. and requires only one single viral protein,
large T antigen, which interacts with the SV40 origin to initiate the DNA replication. The
64 bp SV40 origin core consists of three domains: a 27 bp palindrome that contains
binding sites for viral large T antigen, a 8 bp DNA-unwinding element, and a 17 bp A+T-rich region with one T-rich and one A-rich strand (DePamphilis, 1993).