This dataset was collected to show that direct RNA sequencing using nanopore arrays is an alternative to conventional RNA sequencing approaches, which are complicated by high gene density, overlapping reading frames, and complex splicing patterns. In direct RNA sequencing, individual polyadenylated RNAs are sequenced directly. For this study, direct RNA sequencing was used to profile the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) transcriptome during productive infection of primary cells.

The dataset includes sequencing data. This publication also contains supplementary data, which includes several tables. The tables contain data about sequencing metrics, proximal transcription start sites (pTSS) for canonical HSV-1 open reading frames (ORFs), ORFs with multiple pTSS, novel pTSS, fusion transcripts, and primers used in the study.