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Journal of Virology, December 2001, p. 12105-12113, Vol. 75, No. 24
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).
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
*
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.
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