Journal of Virology (1998) 72, 3227-3234

Maud M. Swanson, Patricia Ansel-McKinney, Felicia Houser-Scott, Vidadi Yusibov, L. Sue Loesch-Fries and Lee Gehrke (1998)
Viral coat protein peptides with limited sequence homology bind similar domains of Alfalfa mosaic virus and Tobacco streak virus RNAs
Journal of Virology 72 (4), 3227-3234
Abstract: An unusual and distinguishing feature of alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and ilarviruses such as tobacco streak virus (TSV) is that the viral coat protein is required to activate the early stages of viral RNA replication, a phenomenon known as genome activation. AMV-TSV coat protein homology is limited; however, they are functionally interchangeable in activating virus replication. For example, TSV coat protein will activate AMV RNA replication and vice versa. Although AMV and TSV coat proteins have little obvious amino acid homology, we recently reported that they share an N-terminal RNA binding consensus sequence (Ansel-McKinney et al., EMBO J. 15:5077-5084, 1996). Here, we biochemically compare the binding of chemically synthesized peptides that include the consensus RNA binding sequence and lysine-rich (AMV) or arginine-rich (TSV) environment to 3'-terminal TSV and AMV RNA fragments. The arginine-rich TSV coat protein peptide binds viral RNA with lower affinity than the lysine-rich AMV coat protein peptides; however, the ribose moieties protected from hydroxyl radical attack by the two different peptides are localized in the same area of the predicted RNA structures. When included in an infectious inoculum, both AMV and TSV 3'-terminal RNA fragments inhibited AMV RNA replication, while variant RNAs unable to bind coat protein did not affect replication significantly. The data suggest that RNA binding and genome activation functions may reside in the consensus RNA binding sequence that is apparently unique to AMV and ilarvirus coat proteins.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
(original language: English)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Lee Gehrke, L. Sue Loesch-Fries

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Alfalfa mosaic virus
	Tobacco streak virus