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 Sen, N.
Right arrow Articles by Tavis, J. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sen, N.
Right arrow Articles by Tavis, J. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, November 2004, p. 11751-11757, Vol. 78, No. 21
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.21.11751-11757.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Translation of Duck Hepatitis B Virus Reverse Transcriptase by Ribosomal Shunting

Nandini Sen,1,{dagger} Feng Cao,1 and John E. Tavis1,2*

Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology,1 St. Louis University Liver Center, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri2

Received 4 March 2004/ Accepted 24 June 2004

The duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) polymerase (P) is translated by de novo initiation from a downstream open reading frame (ORF) that partially overlaps the core (C) ORF on the bicistronic pregenomic RNA (pgRNA). The DHBV P AUG is in a poor context for translational initiation and is preceded by 14 AUGs that could intercept scanning ribosomes, yet P translation is unanticipatedly rapid. Therefore, we assessed C and P translation in the context of the pgRNA. Mutating the upstream C ORF revealed that P translation was inversely related to C translation, primarily due to occlusion of P translation by ribosomes translating C. Translation of the pgRNA was found to be cap dependent, because inserting a stem-loop (BamHI-SL) that blocked >90% of scanning ribosomes at the 5' end of the pgRNA greatly inhibited C and P synthesis. Neither mutating AUGs between the C and P start sites in contexts similar to that of the P AUG nor blocking ribosomal scanning by inserting the BamHI-SL between the C and P start codons greatly altered P translation, indicating that most ribosomes that translate P do not scan through these sequences. Finally, optimizing the P AUG context did not increase P translation. Therefore, the majority of the ribosomes that translate P are shunted from a donor region near the 5' end of the pgRNA to an acceptor site at or near the P AUG, and the shunt acceptor sequences may augment initiation at the P AUG.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: St. Louis University School of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, 1402 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63104. Phone: (314) 977-8893. Fax: (314) 977-8717. E-mail: tavisje{at}slu.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Medicine, SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794.

Journal of Virology, November 2004, p. 11751-11757, Vol. 78, No. 21
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.21.11751-11757.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Schepetilnikov, M., Schott, G., Katsarou, K., Thiebeauld, O., Keller, M., Ryabova, L. A. (2009). Molecular dissection of the prototype foamy virus (PFV) RNA 5'-UTR identifies essential elements of a ribosomal shunt. Nucleic Acids Res 37: 5838-5847 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cao, F., Scougall, C. A., Jilbert, A. R., Tavis, J. E. (2009). Pre-P Is a Secreted Glycoprotein Encoded as an N-Terminal Extension of the Duck Hepatitis B Virus Polymerase Gene. J. Virol. 83: 1368-1378 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Qiu, J., Cheng, F., Pintel, D. (2007). The Abundant R2 mRNA Generated by Aleutian Mink Disease Parvovirus Is Tricistronic, Encoding NS2, VP1, and VP2. J. Virol. 81: 6993-7000 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pooggin, M. M., Ryabova, L. A., He, X., Futterer, J., Hohn, T. (2006). Mechanism of ribosome shunting in Rice tungro bacilliform pararetrovirus. RNA 12: 841-850 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Guarnieri, M., Kim, K.-H., Bang, G., Li, J., Zhou, Y., Tang, X., Wands, J., Tong, S. (2006). Point Mutations Upstream of Hepatitis B Virus Core Gene Affect DNA Replication at the Step of Core Protein Expression. J. Virol. 80: 587-595 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, A., Kao, Y. F., Brown, C. M. (2005). Translation of the first upstream ORF in the hepatitis B virus pregenomic RNA modulates translation at the core and polymerase initiation codons. Nucleic Acids Res 33: 1169-1181 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»