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Journal of Virology, August 2001, p. 7042-7049, Vol. 75, No. 15
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.15.7042-7049.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Hairpin Loop Structure in the 3' Arm of the Influenza A Virus Virion RNA Promoter Is Required for Endonuclease Activity

Michael B. Leahy, Helen C. Dobbyn, and George G. Brownlee^*

Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Received 13 February 2001/Accepted 25 April 2001

Previous studies have shown that the 5' arm of the influenza A virus virion RNA promoter requires a hairpin loop structure for efficient endonuclease activity of influenza virus RNA polymerase, an activity that is required for the cap-snatching activity of primers from host pre-mRNA. Here we examine whether a hairpin loop is also required in the 3' arm of the viral RNA promoter. We study point mutations at each nucleotide position (1 to 12) within the 3' arm of the promoter as well as complementary "rescue" mutations which restored base pairing in the stem of a potential hairpin loop. Our results suggest that endonuclease activity is absolutely dependent on the presence of a 3' hairpin loop structure. This is the first direct evidence for RNA secondary structure within the 3' arm being required for a specific stage, i.e., endonuclease cleavage, in the influenza virus replicative cycle.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Chemical Pathology Unit, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Rd., Oxford OX1 3RE, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 1865 275559. Fax: 44 1865 275556. E-mail: George.Brownlee{at}path.ox.ac.uk.

Present address: School of Biological Sciences, Biochemistry Division, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.

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Journal of Virology, August 2001, p. 7042-7049, Vol. 75, No. 15
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.15.7042-7049.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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