The trans activator (p40tax) of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is a transcriptional factor that activates the long terminal repeat (LTR) of HTLV-I and interleukin-2 receptor alpha. We examined the HTLV-I enhancer responsible for tax-mediated trans activation and identified (A/T)(G/C)(G/C)CNNTGACG(T/A) as a plausible tax-responsive element (TRE). The putative TRE in the LTR was found to be different from the elements required for activation by cycle AMP and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, although these elements overlapped each other. The TRE was also different from a binding site of an NF-kappa B-like factor that was identified in the interleukin-2 receptor alpha promoter and human immunodeficiency virus LTR as a TRE. The latter result was further demonstrated by the failure of the NF-kappa B sequence to compete with the TRE of the LTR in a protein-binding assay. These findings indicate that tax function and its cascade can modulate activities of various enhancer sequences, which are probably regulated by distinct DNA-binding factors.