RNA produced by the Simian Virus 40 (SV40) mutant tsA30 during lytic infection of kidney cells of African green monkeys was examined by RNA-DNA competition-hybridization. This mutant is temperature-sensitive in a function (gene A) that regulates synthesis of viral DNA. No detectable difference between mutant RNA synthesized at the permissive temperature (33 degrees ) and wild-type viral RNA was found. During continuous infection with the mutant at the restrictive temperature (41 degrees ) only early viral RNA was produced. When mutant DNA and late RNA synthesis were initiated at the permissive temperature, a shift to the restrictive temperature rapidly terminated synthesis of viral DNA but not that of late viral RNA. The data indicate that the function of gene A is required before synthesis of late viral RNA and that after initiation, the production of late RNA continues without further expression of gene A or concomittant viral DNA synthesis.