Tomato spotted wilt virus transcriptase in vitro displays a preference for cap donors with multiple base complementarity to the viral template.
Transcription of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses is initiated by cap snatching: a host mRNA is cleaved generally at 10-20 nt from its 5' capped end and the resulting capped leader used to prime viral transcription. For Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), type species of the plant-infecting Tospovirus genus within the Bunyaviridae, cap donors were previously shown to require a single base complementarity to the ultimate or penultimate viral template sequence. More recently, the occurrence in vitro of "re-snatching" of viral mRNAs, i.e., the use of viral mRNAs as cap donors, has been demonstrated for TSWV. To estimate the relative occurrence of re-snatching compared to snatching of host mRNAs, the use of cap donors with either single, double, or multiple complementarity to the viral template was analyzed in pair-wise competition in TSWV in vitro transcription assays. A strong preference was observed for multiple-basepairing donors.
van Knippenberg
Ingeborg
I
Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Binnenhaven 11, 6709PD Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Lamine
Monique
M
Goldbach
Rob
R
Kormelink
Richard
R
D000818:Animals; D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012315:RNA Caps / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D013698:Templates, Genetic; D017865:Tospovirus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D017931:DNA Primers; D012315:RNA Caps; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases