JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Liu, Q.
Right arrow Articles by Leibowitz, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Liu, Q.
Right arrow Articles by Leibowitz, J. L.

Journal of Virology, December 2001, p. 12105-12113, Vol. 75, No. 24
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.24.12105-12113.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Secondary Structural Elements within the 3' Untranslated Region of Mouse Hepatitis Virus Strain JHM Genomic RNA

Qi Liu, Reed F. Johnson, and Julian L. Leibowitz*

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, College Station, Texas 77843-1114

Received 27 June 2001/Accepted 18 September 2001

Previously, we characterized two host protein binding elements located within the 3'-terminal 166 nucleotides of the mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) genome and assessed their functions in defective-interfering (DI) RNA replication. To determine the role of RNA secondary structures within these two host protein binding elements in viral replication, we explored the secondary structure of the 3'-terminal 166 nucleotides of the MHV strain JHM genome using limited RNase digestion assays. Our data indicate that multiple stem-loop and hairpin-loop structures exist within this region. Mutant and wild-type DIssEs were employed to test the function of secondary structure elements in DI RNA replication. Three stem structures were chosen as targets for the introduction of transversion mutations designed to destroy base pairing structures. Mutations predicted to destroy the base pairing of nucleotides 142 to 136 with nucleotides 68 to 74 exhibited a deleterious effect on DIssE replication. Destruction of base pairing between positions 96 to 99 and 116 to 113 also decreased DI RNA replication. Mutations interfering with the pairing of nucleotides 67 to 63 with nucleotides 52 to 56 had only minor effects on DIssE replication. The introduction of second complementary mutations which restored the predicted base pairing of positions 142 to 136 with 68 to 74 and nucleotides 96 to 99 with 116 to 113 largely ameliorated defects in replication ability, restoring DI RNA replication to levels comparable to that of wild-type DIssE RNA, suggesting that these secondary structures are important for efficient MHV replication. We also identified a conserved 23-nucleotide stem-loop structure involving nucleotides 142 to 132 and nucleotides 68 to 79. The upstream side of this conserved stem-loop is contained within a host protein binding element (nucleotides 166 to 129).

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, 1114 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1114. Phone: (979) 845-7288. Fax: (979) 862-1299. E-mail: jleibowitz{at}tamu.edu.

Journal of Virology, December 2001, p. 12105-12113, Vol. 75, No. 24
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.24.12105-12113.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.