title: Thogoto virus matrix protein is encoded by a spliced mRNA.
abstract: Thogoto virus (THOV) is a tick-transmitted orthomyxovirus with a segmented, negative-stranded RNA genome. In this study, we investigated the coding strategy of RNA segment 6 and found that it contains 956 nucleotides and codes for the matrix (M) protein. The full-length cDNA contains a single, long reading frame that lacks a stop codon but has coding capacity for a putative 35-kDa protein. In contrast, the M protein of THOV has an apparent molecular mass of 29 kDa as assessed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of posttranscriptional processing of segment 6 transcripts by reverse transcription-PCR and identified a spliced mRNA that contains a stop codon and is translated into the 29-kDa M protein. Interestingly, the nontemplated UGA stop codon is generated by the splicing event itself. Thus, the unusual M coding strategy of THOV resembles that of Influenza C virus.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Virologie, Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, D-79008 Freiburg, Germany. KOCHS@UKL.UNI-FREIBURG.DE
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kochs
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delvendahl
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leitz
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Haller
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018117:Thogotovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins