The synthesis of the immediate early (IE) polypeptides was analysed in primary rabbit kidney (RK) cells and a stable line of rabbit lung (ZP) cells infected with the syncytial (syn) strain HSZP and the non-syn strain KOS of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Results showed the following: After cycloheximide reversal the infection of RK and ZP cells with HSZP strain led to synthesis of five IE polypeptides (175K, 136K, 87K, 68K, and 63K), while infection of both cell cultures with the KOS strain led to synthesis of significantly reduced amounts of the IE polypeptides. The ability to switch on the expression of non-alpha viral genes was impaired in RK cells infected with the HSZP strain. The IE polypeptides were still detectable without any sign of the non-IE polypeptide synthesis 4 hr after cycloheximide reversal. The observed failure of the IE HSZP polypeptides to undergo posttranslational modification in ZP cells may be the consequence of this phenomenon. In contrast to the KOS IE mRNAs, the HSZP IE mRNAs exhibited a pronounced functional stability in both cell cultures. The IE polypeptides were still synthesized in HSZP-infected cells which had been incubated for 19 hr after cycloheximide reversal in the presence of actinomycin D (Act D). The HSZP strain failed to suppress the host polypeptide synthesis in RK but not in ZP cells. However, the HSZP strain, in contrast to the KOS strain, proved to be defective with respect to the early shutoff of host polypeptide synthesis in both cell cultures.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)