The ribosomal shunt translation strategy of cauliflower mosaic virus has evolved from ancient long terminal repeats.
We have screened portions of the large intergenic region of the Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) genome for promoter activity in baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and have identified an element that contributes to promoter activity in yeast but has negligible activity in plant cells when expressed in an agroinfiltration assay. A search of the yeast genome sequence revealed that the CaMV element had sequence similarity with the R region of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the yeast Ty1 retrotransposon, with significant statistical confidence. In plants, the same CaMV sequence has been shown to have an essential role in the ribosomal shunt mechanism of translation, as it forms the base of the right arm of the stem-loop structure that is required for the ribosomal shunt. Since the left arm of the stem-loop structure must represent an imperfect reverse copy of the right arm, we propose that the ribosomal shunt has evolved from a pair of LTRs that have become incorporated end to end into the CaMV genome.
Division of Plant Sciences, 108 Waters Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.
Monir
M
Shababi
June
J
Bourque
Karuppaiah
K
Palanichelvam
Anthony
A
Cole
Dong
D
Xu
Xiu-Feng
XF
Wan
James
J
Schoelz
D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017796:Caulimovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000821:virology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D018626:Retroelements; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D020079:Terminal Repeat Sequences
D018626:Retroelements