Vaccinia virus encapsidates a type I DNA topoisomerase (EC 5.99.1.2). The enzyme was purified from virus cores to apparent homogeneity, yielding a protein of Mr 32,000. The amino-terminal sequence of the isolated Mr 32,000 polypeptide was determined and used to map the putative structural gene for the vaccinia topoisomerase to the H7r open reading frame of the vaccinia genome. This gene encodes a 314-amino acid polypeptide containing a region homologous to a region of the type I topoisomerase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.