scholarly journals The Synthesis of Minus-Strand RNA of Bamboo Mosaic Potexvirus Initiates from Multiple Sites within the Poly(A) Tail

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 6114-6120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jai-Hong Cheng ◽  
Chi-Weng Peng ◽  
Yau-Heiu Hsu ◽  
Ching-Hsiu Tsai

ABSTRACT The 3′ terminus of the bamboo mosaic potexvirus (BaMV) contains a poly(A) tail, the 5′ portion of which participates in the formation of an RNA pseudoknot required for BaMV RNA replication. Recombinant RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of BaMV binds to the pseudoknot poly(A) tail in gel mobility shift assays (C.-Y. Huang, Y.-L. Huang, M. Meng, Y.-H. Hsu, and C.-H. Tsai, J. Virol. 75:2818-2824, 2001). Approximately 20 nucleotides of the poly(A) tail adjacent to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) are protected from diethylpyrocarbonate modification, suggesting that this region may be used to initiate minus-strand RNA synthesis. The 5′ terminus of the minus-strand RNA synthesized by the RdRp in vitro was examined using 5′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and DNA sequencing. Minus-strand RNA synthesis was found to initiate from several positions within the poly(A) tail, with the highest frequency of initiation being from the 7th to the 10th adenylates counted from the 5′-most adenylate of the poly(A) tail. Sequence analyses of BaMV progeny RNAs recovered from Nicotiana benthamiana protoplasts which were inoculated with mutants containing a mutation at the 1st, 4th, 7th, or 16th position of the poly(A) tail suggested the existence of variable initiation sites, similar to those found in 5′ RACE experiments. We deduce that the initiation site for minus-strand RNA synthesis is not fixed at one position but resides opposite one of the 15 adenylates of the poly(A) tail immediately downstream of the 3′ UTR of BaMV genomic RNA.

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (22) ◽  
pp. 10359-10370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aniko V. Paul ◽  
Elizabeth Rieder ◽  
Dong Wook Kim ◽  
Jacques H. van Boom ◽  
Eckard Wimmer

ABSTRACT The first step in the replication of the plus-stranded poliovirus RNA is the synthesis of a complementary minus strand. This process is initiated by the covalent attachment of UMP to the terminal protein VPg, yielding VPgpU and VPgpUpU. We have previously shown that these products can be made in vitro in a reaction that requires only synthetic VPg, UTP, poly(A), purified poliovirus RNA polymerase 3Dpol, and Mg2+ (A. V. Paul, J. H. van Boom, D. Filippov, and E. Wimmer, Nature 393:280–284, 1998). Since such a poly(A)-dependent process cannot confer sufficient specificity to poliovirus RNA replication, we have developed a new assay to search for a viral RNA template in conjunction with viral or cellular factors that could provide this function. We have now discovered a small RNA hairpin in the coding region of protein 2C as the site in PV1(M) RNA that is used as the primary template for the in vitro uridylylation of VPg. This hairpin has recently been described in poliovirus RNA as being an essential structure for the initiation of minus strand RNA synthesis (I. Goodfellow, Y. Chaudhry, A. Richardson, J. Meredith, J. W. Almond, W. Barclay, and D. J. Evans, J. Virol. 74:4590–4600, 2000). The uridylylation reaction either with transcripts of cre(2C) RNA or with full-length PV1(M) RNA as the template is strongly stimulated by the addition of purified viral protein 3CDpro. Deletion of the cre(2C) RNA sequences from minigenomes eliminates their ability to serve as template in the reaction. A similar signal in the coding region of VP1 in HRV14 RNA (K. L. McKnight and S. M. Lemon, RNA 4:1569–1584, 1998) and the poliovirus cre(2C) can be functionally exchanged in the assay. The mechanism by which the VPgpUpU precursor, made specifically on the cre(2C) template, might be transferred to the site where it serves as primer for poliovirus RNA synthesis, remains to be determined.


1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 6546-6553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Lemm ◽  
Anders Bergqvist ◽  
Carol M. Read ◽  
Charles M. Rice

ABSTRACT Recent insights into the early events in Sindbis virus RNA replication suggest a requirement for either the P123 or P23 polyprotein, as well as mature nsP4, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, for initiation of minus-strand RNA synthesis. Based on this observation, we have succeeded in reconstituting an in vitro system for template-dependent initiation of SIN RNA replication. Extracts were isolated from cells infected with vaccinia virus recombinants expressing various SIN proteins and assayed by the addition of exogenous template RNAs. Extracts from cells expressing P123C>S, a protease-defective P123 polyprotein, and nsP4 synthesized a genome-length minus-sense RNA product. Replicase activity was dependent upon addition of exogenous RNA and was specific for alphavirus plus-strand RNA templates. RNA synthesis was also obtained by coexpression of nsP1, P23C>S, and nsP4. However, extracts from cells expressing nsP4 and P123, a cleavage-competent P123 polyprotein, had much less replicase activity. In addition, a P123 polyprotein containing a mutation in the nsP2 protease which increased the efficiency of processing exhibited very little, if any, replicase activity. These results provide further evidence that processing of the polyprotein inactivates the minus-strand initiation complex. Finally, RNA synthesis was detected when soluble nsP4 was added to a membrane fraction containing P123C>S, thus providing a functional assay for purification of the nsP4 RNA polymerase.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 3841-3850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalya L. Teterina ◽  
Denise Egger ◽  
Kurt Bienz ◽  
David M. Brown ◽  
Bert L. Semler ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT HeLa cells were transfected with several plasmids that encoded all poliovirus (PV) nonstructural proteins. Viral RNAs were transcribed by T7 RNA polymerase expressed from recombinant vaccinia virus. All plasmids produced similar amounts of viral proteins that were processed identically; however, RNAs were designed either to serve as templates for replication or to contain mutations predicted to prevent RNA replication. The mutations included substitution of the entire PV 5′ noncoding region (NCR) with the encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) internal ribosomal entry site, thereby deleting the 5′-terminal cloverleaf-like structure, or insertion of three nucleotides in the 3Dpol coding sequence. Production of viral proteins was sufficient to induce the characteristic reorganization of intracellular membranes into heterogeneous-sized vesicles, independent of RNA replication. The vesicles were stably associated with viral RNA only when RNA replication could occur. Nonreplicating RNAs localized to distinct, nonoverlapping regions in the cell, excluded from the viral protein-membrane complexes. The absence of accumulation of positive-strand RNA from both mutated RNAs in transfected cells was documented. In addition, no minus-strand RNA was produced from the EMCV chimeric template RNA in vitro. These data show that the 5′-terminal sequences of PV RNA are essential for initiation of minus-strand RNA synthesis at its 3′ end.


2002 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 1087-1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Girard ◽  
Anne-Sophie Gosselin ◽  
Isabelle Pelletier ◽  
Florence Colbère-Garapin ◽  
Thérèse Couderc ◽  
...  

The aetiology of post-polio syndrome may involve persistence of poliovirus (PV) in the CNS. PV persists in the CNS of infected paralysed mice for over a year after the acute phase of paralytic poliomyelitis. However, infectious PV particles cannot be recovered from homogenates of CNS from paralysed mice after the acute phase of disease, indicating that PV replication is restricted. To identify the molecular mechanism by which PV replication is limited, PV RNA synthesis was analysed by estimating the relative level of genomic (plus-strand) and complementary (minus-strand) PV RNA in the CNS of persistently infected mice. PV RNA replication decreased during the 6 months following onset of paralysis, due mainly to inhibition of plus-strand RNA synthesis. Thus, restriction of PV RNA synthesis may contribute to persistence by limiting virus replication in the mouse CNS. Interestingly, viral RNA replication was similarly inhibited in neuroblastoma IMR-32 cell cultures persistently infected with PV. This in vitro model thus shows that cellular factors play a role in the inhibition of viral RNA synthesis.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 1830-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. T. Ranjith-Kumar ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
C. Cheng Kao

ABSTRACT As with transcription from DNA templates, RNA synthesis from viral RNA templates must initiate accurately. RNA sequences named specificity and initiation determinants allow recognition of and coordinated interaction with the viral replication enzyme. Using enriched replicase from brome mosaic virus (BMV)-infected plants and variants of the promoter template for minus-strand and subgenomic RNA initiation, we found that a specificity determinant for minus-strand initiation could function at variable distances and positions from the 3′ initiation site in a manner similar to enhancers of transcription from DNA templates. This determinant's addition could convert a cellular tRNA into a template for RNA synthesis by the BMV replicase in vitro. Furthermore, the same specificity element could direct internal initiation, which occurred at a highly preferred site in a manner distinct from initiation at the 3′ terminus of the template. These results document two distinct modes of initiation site recognition by a viral RNA replicase.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 4366-4377 ◽  
Author(s):  
M K Kim ◽  
L A Lesoon-Wood ◽  
B D Weintraub ◽  
J H Chung

Expression of the human thyrotropin beta (hTSHbeta) gene is restricted to thyrotrophs, at least in part, by silencing. Using transient-transfection assays, we have localized a silencer element to a region between -128 and -480 bp upstream of the transcription initiation site. The silencing activity was overcome in a thyrotroph-specific manner by an unknown enhancer located in the sequences at -approximately 10000 to -1200 bp. The ubiquitous POU homeodomain protein Oct-1 recognized the A/T-rich silencer element at multiple sites in gel mobility shift assays and in vitro footprinting analyses. The silencing activity of Oct-1 was localized in its C-terminal alanine-rich domain, suggesting that Oct-1 plays a role in silencing of the hTSHbeta promoter. Further, a significant fraction of Oct-1 was shown to be associated with the nuclear matrix, and the hTSHbeta silencer region was tethered to a nuclear matrix of human cells in vivo, suggesting a possible role of the Oct-1-hTSHbeta silencer region interaction in chromatin organization.


1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 6415-6423 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Sivakumaran ◽  
C. Cheng Kao

ABSTRACT In contrast to the synthesis of minus-strand genomic and plus-strand subgenomic RNAs, the requirements for brome mosaic virus (BMV) genomic plus-strand RNA synthesis in vitro have not been previously reported. Therefore, little is known about the biochemical requirements for directing genomic plus-strand synthesis. Using DNA templates to characterize the requirements for RNA-dependent RNA polymerase template recognition, we found that initiation from the 3′ end of a template requires one nucleotide 3′ of the initiation nucleotide. The addition of a nontemplated nucleotide at the 3′ end of minus-strand BMV RNAs led to initiation of genomic plus-strand RNA in vitro. Genomic plus-strand initiation was specific since cucumber mosaic virus minus-strand RNA templates were unable to direct efficient synthesis under the same conditions. In addition, mutational analysis of the minus-strand template revealed that the −1 nontemplated nucleotide, along with the +1 cytidylate and +2 adenylate, is important for RNA-dependent RNA polymerase interaction. Furthermore, genomic plus-strand RNA synthesis is affected by sequences 5′ of the initiation site.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (17) ◽  
pp. 11062-11070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cori L. Fata-Hartley ◽  
Ann C. Palmenberg

ABSTRACT Dipyridamole is an effective inhibitor of cardiovirus growth in cell culture. The effects of dipyridamole on mengovirus replication in vivo and in vitro were examined in the hope the drug could be used as an experimental analog of the poliovirus inhibitor guanidine. Guanidine selectively inhibits poliovirus RNA synthesis but not RNA translation, and as such, has been a valuable research tool. Although guanidine does not inhibit cardiovirus infection, a compound with similar discriminatory characteristics would be experimentally useful for parallel work with these viruses. We found that mengovirus plaque formation in HeLa or L cells was inhibited nearly 100% by the presence of 80 μM dipyridamole. The inhibitory effect was reversible and targeted an early step in the replication cycle. Studies with luciferase-expressing mengovirus replicons showed that viral protein synthesis was unaffected by dipyridamole, and rather, RNA synthesis was the step targeted by the drug. This assessment was confirmed by direct analyses of viral translation and RNA synthesis activities in a Krebs-2-derived in vitro system that supported complete, infectious cardiovirus replication. In Krebs extracts, dipyridamole specifically inhibited viral RNA synthesis to more than 95%, with no concomitant effect on viral protein translation or polyprotein processing. The observed inhibition reversibly affected an early step in both minus-strand and plus-strand RNA synthesis, although inhibition of plus-strand synthesis was more profound than that of minus-strand synthesis. We conclude that dipyridamole is a potent experimental tool that readily distinguishes between cardiovirus translation and RNA replication functions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (24) ◽  
pp. 13420-13429 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.-K. Choi ◽  
M. Hema ◽  
K. Gopinath ◽  
J. Santos ◽  
C. Kao

ABSTRACT The cis-acting elements for Brome mosaic virus (BMV) RNA synthesis have been characterized primarily for RNA3. To identify additional replicase-binding elements, nested fragments of all three of the BMV RNAs, both plus- and minus-sense fragments, were constructed and tested for binding enriched BMV replicase in a template competition assay. Ten RNA fragments containing replicase-binding sites were identified; eight were characterized further because they were more effective competitors. All eight mapped to noncoding regions of BMV RNAs, and the positions of seven localized to sequences containing previously characterized core promoter elements (C. C. Kao, Mol. Plant Pathol. 3:55-62, 2001), thus suggesting the identities of the replicase-binding sites. Three contained the tRNA-like structures that direct minus-strand RNA synthesis, three were within the 3′ region of each minus-strand RNA that contained the core promoter for genomic plus-strand initiation, and one was in the core subgenomic promoter. Single-nucleotide mutations known previously to abolish RNA synthesis in vitro prevented replicase binding. When tested in the context of the respective full-length RNAs, the same mutations abolished BMV RNA synthesis in transfected barley protoplasts. The eighth site was within the intercistronic region (ICR) of plus-strand RNA3. Further mapping showed that a sequence of 22 consecutive adenylates was responsible for binding the replicase, with 16 being the minimal required length. Deletion of the poly(A) sequence was previously shown to severely debilitate BMV RNA replication in plants (E. Smirnyagina, Y. H. Hsu, N. Chua, and P. Ahlquist, Virology 198:427-436, 1994). Interestingly, the B box motif in the ICR of RNA3, which has previously been determined to bind the 1a protein, does not bind the replicase. These results identify the replicase-binding sites in all of the BMV RNAs and suggest that the recognition of RNA3 is different from that of RNA1 and RNA2.


2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (24) ◽  
pp. 11671-11680 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. M. Osman ◽  
C. L. Hemenway ◽  
K. W. Buck

ABSTRACT A template-dependent RNA polymerase has been used to determine the sequence elements in the 3′ untranslated region of tobacco mosaic virus RNA that are required for promotion of minus-strand RNA synthesis and binding to the RNA polymerase in vitro. Regions which were important for minus-strand synthesis were domain D1, which is equivalent to a tRNA acceptor arm; domain D2, which is similar to a tRNA anticodon arm; an upstream domain, D3; and a central core, C, which connects domains D1, D2, and D3 and determines their relative orientations. Mutational analysis of the 3′-terminal 4 nucleotides of domain D1 indicated the importance of the 3′-terminal CA sequence for minus-strand synthesis, with the sequence CCCA or GGCA giving the highest transcriptional efficiency. Several double-helical regions, but not their sequences, which are essential for forming pseudoknot and/or stem-loop structures in domains D1, D2, and D3 and the central core, C, were shown to be required for high template efficiency. Also important were a bulge sequence in the D2 stem-loop and, to a lesser extent, a loop sequence in a hairpin structure in domain D1. The sequence of the 3′ untranslated region upstream of domain D3 was not required for minus-strand synthesis. Template-RNA polymerase binding competition experiments showed that the highest-affinity RNA polymerase binding element region lay within a region comprising domain D2 and the central core, C, but domains D1 and D3 also bound to the RNA polymerase with lower affinity.


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