title: Characterization of the polyadenylation signal of influenza virus RNA.
abstract: It has been shown that a stretch of uridines (U's) near the 5' end of the virion RNA of influenza A virus is the polyadenylation site for viral mRNA synthesis. In addition, the RNA duplex made up the 3' and 5' terminal sequences adjacent to the U stretch is also involved in polyadenylation. We have further characterized the polyadenylation signal of influenza virus RNA with a ribonucleoprotein transfection system. We found that the optimal length of the U stretch is 5 to 7 uridine residues. We also showed that the upstream sequence at the 5' end is not involved in polyadenylation and that the optimal distance between the 5' end and the U stretch is 16 nucleotides. The combination of these features defines the polyadenylation site and differentiates this signal from other U stretches scattered throughout the genomes of influenza viruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palese
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011061:Poly A / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011072:Poly U / Q000235:genetics; D012313:RNA; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; C039919:RNA, recombinant; D011061:Poly A; D011072:Poly U; D012313:RNA; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase