The gene rpo35, encoding a subunit of the vaccinia virus DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, was identified, and its RNA and protein products were characterized. An Mr 35,000 polypeptide, which bound antibody to the purified RNA polymerase, was synthesized in reticulocyte lysates programmed with viral mRNA that hybridized to a 2,300-base pair segment of the viral genome. Determination of the sequence of the DNA segment revealed four potential protein coding regions, none of which had evident similarity to any described RNA polymerase subunit of prokaryotes or eukaryotes. One open reading frame that could encode a 35,400-Da protein was identified as rpo35 on the basis of mRNA hybridization, cell-free translation, and immunoprecipitation. The identification was confirmed by sequencing tryptic peptides of the authentic Mr 35,000 RNA polymerase subunit. Antiserum to the purified recombinant protein, expressed in bacteria, reacted specifically with a Mr 35,000 polypeptide that was detected starting 2 h after virus infection and that co-sedimented with RNA polymerase purified from virions. RNA analyses indicated that the 5'-end of an early transcript started 25 nucleotides upstream of rpo35, which is consistent with the location of an early promoter consensus sequence.