Mutational analysis of the lassa virus promoter.
The promoter sequences directing viral gene expression and genome replication of arenaviruses reside within the 3' and 5' termini of each RNA segment. The terminal 19 nucleotides at both ends are highly conserved among all arenavirus species and are almost completely complementary to each other. This study aimed at characterizing the Lassa virus promoter in detail. The relevance of each position in the promoter was studied by site-directed mutagenesis using the Lassa virus minireplicon system. The data indicate that the Lassa virus promoter functions as a duplex, regulates transcription and replication in a coordinated manner, and is composed of two functional elements, a sequence-specific region from residue 1 to 12 and a variable complementary region from residue 13 to 19. The first region appears to interact with the replication complex mainly via base-specific interactions, while in the second region solely base pairing between 3' and 5' promoter ends is important for promoter function.
Hass
Meike
M
Bernhard-Nocht-Institute of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse 74, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany.
Westerkofsky
Martina
M
Müller
Stefanie
S
Becker-Ziaja
Beate
B
Busch
Carola
C
Günther
Stephan
S
D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000235:genetics*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D017931:DNA Primers