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 Previous Article

Journal of Virology, June 2007, p. 6771-6774, Vol. 81, No. 12
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02231-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

New Structure Model for the Packaging Signal in the Genome of Group IIa Coronaviruses{triangledown}

Shih-Cheng Chen,1 Erwin van den Born,2 Sjoerd H. E. van den Worm,2 Cornelis W. A. Pleij,1 Eric J. Snijder,2 and René C. L. Olsthoorn1*

Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands,1 Molecular Virology Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands2

Received 11 October 2006/ Accepted 27 March 2007

A 190-nucleotide (nt) packaging signal (PS) located in the 3' end of open reading frame 1b in the mouse hepatitis virus, a group IIa coronavirus, was previously postulated to direct genome RNA packaging. Based on phylogenetic data and structure probing, we have identified a 95-nt hairpin within the 190-nt PS domain which is conserved in all group IIa coronaviruses but not in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (group IIb), group I coronaviruses, or group III coronaviruses. The hairpin is composed of six copies of a repeating structural subunit that consists of 2-nt bulges and 5-bp stems. We propose that repeating AA bulges are characteristic features of group IIa PSs.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 71 527 4586. Fax: 31 71 527 4340. E-mail: olsthoor{at}chem.leidenuniv.nl

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 11 April 2007.

Journal of Virology, June 2007, p. 6771-6774, Vol. 81, No. 12
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02231-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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