The poliovirus 2C cis-acting replication element-mediated uridylylation of VPg is not required for synthesis of negative-sense genomes

Goodfellow, I.G., Polacek, C., Andino, R. and Evans, D.J. (2003) The poliovirus 2C cis-acting replication element-mediated uridylylation of VPg is not required for synthesis of negative-sense genomes. Journal of General Virology, 84, pp. 2359-2363. (doi: 10.1099/vir.0.19132-0)

Abstract

Nucleotides in the terminal loop of the poliovirus 2C cis-acting replication element (2CCRE), a 61 nt structured RNA, function as the template for the addition of two uridylate (U) residues to the viral protein VPg. This uridylylation reaction leads to the formation of VPgpUpU, which is used by the viral RNA polymerase as a nucleotide–peptide primer for genome replication. Although VPg primes both positive- and negative-strand replication, the specific requirement for 2CCRE-mediated uridylylation for one or both events has not been demonstrated. We have used a cell-free in vitro translation and replication reaction to demonstrate that 2CCRE is not required for the initiation of the negative-sense strand, which is synthesized in the absence of 2CCRE-mediated VPgpUpU formation. We propose that the 3′ poly(A) tail could serve as the template for the formation of a VPg–poly(U) primer that functions in the initiation of negative-sense strands.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: UNSPECIFIED
• Authors: Goodfellow, I.G., Polacek, C., Andino, R., and Evans, D.J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of General Virology
• Publisher: Society for General Microbiology
• ISSN: 0022-1317
• ISSN (Online): 1465-2099