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 Albariño, C. G.
Right arrow Articles by Nichol, S. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Albariño, C. G.
Right arrow Articles by Nichol, S. T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, May 2007, p. 5246-5256, Vol. 81, No. 10
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02778-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Shared Transcription Termination Signal on Negative and Ambisense RNA Genome Segments of Rift Valley Fever, Sandfly Fever Sicilian, and Toscana Viruses{triangledown}

César G. Albariño,1 Brian H. Bird,1,2 and Stuart T. Nichol1*

Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS G-14, Atlanta, Georgia 30329,1 University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California 956162

Received 15 December 2006/ Accepted 21 February 2007

The Phlebovirus genus (family Bunyaviridae) is composed of a diverse group of arboviruses that cause disease syndromes ranging from mild febrile illness to hemorrhagic fever with high fatality. Although antigenically similar, these viruses differ by approximately 25% at the genome level, and their ecologies, including geographic ranges, preferred vector species, and hosts, vary considerably. In contrast to other ambisense viruses, where RNA hairpin structures which serve as transcription termination signals are frequently found separating the opposite-sense open reading frames, no evidence of predicted high-energy hairpin structures was found at the ambisense junctions of phlebovirus S RNA segments. However, a conserved sequence motif was identified on both negative and ambisense genome segments that functions as a transcription termination signal for the N, NSs, and GPC mRNAs in three diverse phleboviruses, namely, Rift Valley fever, sandfly Sicilian, and Toscana viruses. The exact termination of nascent virus mRNA molecules was determined by 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Surprisingly, analysis of the termini of mRNAs from both S and M segments of these three viruses revealed that transcription termination occurred immediately upstream of a conserved sequence motif with the general features 3'-C1-3GUCG/A-5'. In contrast, no corresponding sequence motif was found in the L segments, and analysis indicated a "runoff" transcript approach to L mRNA termination. The absolute requirement of the identified transcription termination motif was demonstrated by using a highly efficient Rift Valley fever virus reverse genetics system to generate live recombinant viruses with S segments lacking the termination signal motif for the NP or NSs mRNA and showing that these recombinant viruses generated mRNAs that failed to terminate correctly.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS G-14, Atlanta, GA 30329. Phone: (404) 639-1115. Fax: (404) 639-1118. E-mail: snichol{at}cdc.gov

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 28 February 2007.

Journal of Virology, May 2007, p. 5246-5256, Vol. 81, No. 10
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02778-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Albarino, C. G., Bergeron, E., Erickson, B. R., Khristova, M. L., Rollin, P. E., Nichol, S. T. (2009). Efficient Reverse Genetics Generation of Infectious Junin Viruses Differing in Glycoprotein Processing. J. Virol. 83: 5606-5614 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bird, B. H., Albarino, C. G., Hartman, A. L., Erickson, B. R., Ksiazek, T. G., Nichol, S. T. (2008). Rift Valley Fever Virus Lacking the NSs and NSm Genes Is Highly Attenuated, Confers Protective Immunity from Virulent Virus Challenge, and Allows for Differential Identification of Infected and Vaccinated Animals. J. Virol. 82: 2681-2691 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ikegami, T., Won, S., Peters, C. J., Makino, S. (2007). Characterization of Rift Valley Fever Virus Transcriptional Terminations. J. Virol. 81: 8421-8438 [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»