This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sun, X. Articles by Simon, A. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sun, X. Articles by Simon, A. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, July 2003, p. 7880-7889, Vol. 77, No. 14
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.14.7880-7889.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Fitness of a Turnip Crinkle Virus Satellite RNA Correlates with a Sequence-Nonspecific Hairpin and Flanking Sequences That Enhance Replication and Repress the Accumulation of Virions

Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742

Received 11 March 2003/ Accepted 30 April 2003

satC, a satellite RNA associated with Turnip crinkle virus (TCV), enhances the ability of the virus to colonize plants by interfering with stable virion accumulation (F. Zhang and A. E. Simon, unpublished data). Previous results suggested that the motif1-hairpin (M1H), a replication enhancer on minus strands, forms a plus-strand hairpin flanked by CA-rich sequence that may be involved in enhancing systemic infection (G. Zhang and A. E. Simon, J. Mol. Biol. 326:35-48, 2003). In this study, sequence and structural requirements of the M1H were further assayed by replacing the 28-base M1H with 10 random bases and then subjecting the pool of satellite RNA to functional selection in plants. Unlike previous results with 28-base replacement sequences (G. Zhang and A. E. Simon, J. Mol. Biol. 326:35-48, 2003), only a few of the 10-base SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) assay winners contained short motifs in their minus-sense orientation that were similar to TCV replication elements. However, all second- and third-round winning replacement sequences folded into hairpins flanked by CA-rich sequence predicted to be more stable on plus strands than minus strands. Plus strands of several of the most fit satellite RNAs contained insertions of CA-rich sequence at the base of their hairpins whose presence correlated with enhanced replication and reduced detection of virions. Deletion of the M1H resulted in no detectable virions despite very low satellite accumulation. These results support the hypothesis that a sequence-nonspecific plus-strand hairpin brings together flanking CA-rich sequences in the M1H region that confers fitness to satC by reducing the accumulation of stable virions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sun, X., Zhang, G., Simon, A. E. (2005). Short Internal Sequences Involved in Replication and Virion Accumulation in a Subviral RNA of Turnip Crinkle Virus. J. Virol. 79: 512-524 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Zhang, G., Zhang, J., Simon, A. E. (2004). Repression and Derepression of Minus-Strand Synthesis in a Plus-Strand RNA Virus Replicon. J. Virol. 78: 7619-7633 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Song, S. I., Miller, W. A. (2004). cis and trans Requirements for Rolling Circle Replication of a Satellite RNA. J. Virol. 78: 3072-3082 [Abstract] [Full Text]