title: Knotty Zika Virus Blocks Exonuclease to Produce Subgenomic Flaviviral RNAs.
abstract: In a recent issue of Science, Akiyama et al. (2016) prove the existence of a pseudoknot that stabilizes a nuclease-resistant RNA structure in the 3' untranslated region of Zika virus. This reinforced structure blocks the 5'→3' exonuclease Xrn1 for the production of pathogenic subgenomic flaviviral RNAs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Nandan S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Gokhale
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: stacy.horner@duke.edu.
authors.forename: Stacy M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Horner
mesh_terms: D005095:Exoribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D020871:RNA Stability / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D005095:Exoribonucleases
keywords: RNA structure; Xrn1; Zika virus; sfRNA; xrRNA