Herpes simplex virus 1 initially infects epithelial cells during the lytic phase of its infectious cycle, followed by establishment of the latent phase within neuronal cells. The two different phases of infection are characterized by distinct gene-expression profiles, involving a temporal gene-expression pattern during the lytic phase succeeded by a complete shutdown of all gene expression, except for one abundant transcript, during the latent phase. The mechanisms controlling these varying degrees of gene expression appear to involve regulation of the viral chromatin structure, presumably using many of the same tactics employed by the host cell.