title: Processing of RNAs of the family Avsunviroidae in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplasts.
abstract: The family Avsunviroidae comprises four viroid species with the ability to form hammerhead ribozymes that mediate self-cleavage of the multimeric plus and minus strands resulting from replication in the chloroplast through a symmetric rolling-circle mechanism. Research on these RNAs is restricted by their host range, which is limited to the plants wherein they were initially identified and some closely related species. Here we report cleavage and ligation in transplastomic Chlamydomonas reinhardtii expressing plus- and minus-strand dimeric transcripts of representative members of the family Avsunviroidae. Despite the absence of viroid RNA-RNA transcription, the C. reinhardtii-based system can be used to address intriguing questions about viroid RNA processing and, in particular, about the cellular factors involved in cleavage and ligation.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia), Avenida de los Naranjos s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Molina-Serrano
authors.forename: Loreto
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Suay
authors.forename: María L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Salvador
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: José-Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Daròs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000821:virology*; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000821:virology*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*; D014772:Viroids / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral