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Journal of Virology, March 2007, p. 2429-2439, Vol. 81, No. 5
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01969-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Multicomponent RNA-Based Control System Regulates Subgenomic mRNA Transcription in a Tombusvirus{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Han-Xin Lin,{ddagger} Wei Xu,{ddagger} and K. Andrew White*

Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3

Received 10 September 2006/ Accepted 6 December 2006

During infections, positive-strand RNA tombusviruses transcribe two subgenomic (sg) mRNAs that allow for the expression of a subset of their genes. This process is thought to involve an unconventional mechanism involving the premature termination of the virally encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase while it is copying the virus genome. The 3' truncated minus strands generated by termination are then used as templates for sg mRNA transcription. In addition to requiring an extensive network of long-distance RNA-RNA interactions (H.-X. Lin and K. A. White, EMBO J. 23:3365-3374, 2004), the transcription of tombusvirus sg mRNAs also involves several additional RNA structures. In vivo analysis of these diverse RNA elements revealed that they function at distinct steps in the process by facilitating the formation or stabilization of the long-distance interactions, modulating minus-strand template production, or promoting the initiation of sg mRNA transcription. All of the RNA elements characterized could be readily incorporated into a premature termination model for sg mRNA transcription. Overall, the analyses revealed a complex system that displays a high level of structural integration and functional coordination. This multicomponent RNA-based control system may serve as a useful paradigm for understanding related transcriptional processes in other positive-sense RNA viruses.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3. Phone: (416) 736-2100, ext. 40890 or 70352. Fax: (416) 736-5698. E-mail: kawhite{at}yorku.ca.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 13 December 2006.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jvi.asm.org/.

{ddagger} H-X.L. and W.X. contributed equally to this work.

Journal of Virology, March 2007, p. 2429-2439, Vol. 81, No. 5
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01969-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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