Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.

Flock House virus (FHV) is a positive-stranded RNA virus with a bipartite genome of RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2, and belongs to the family Nodaviridae. As the most extensively studied nodavirus, FHV has become a well-recognized model for studying various aspects of RNA virology, particularly viral RNA repli...

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Main Authors: Wenzhe Wu, Zhaowei Wang, Hongjie Xia, Yongxiang Liu, Yang Qiu, Yujie Liu, Yuanyang Hu, Xi Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3900681?pdf=render
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author Wenzhe Wu
Zhaowei Wang
Hongjie Xia
Yongxiang Liu
Yang Qiu
Yujie Liu
Yuanyang Hu
Xi Zhou
author_facet Wenzhe Wu
Zhaowei Wang
Hongjie Xia
Yongxiang Liu
Yang Qiu
Yujie Liu
Yuanyang Hu
Xi Zhou
author_sort Wenzhe Wu
collection DOAJ
description Flock House virus (FHV) is a positive-stranded RNA virus with a bipartite genome of RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2, and belongs to the family Nodaviridae. As the most extensively studied nodavirus, FHV has become a well-recognized model for studying various aspects of RNA virology, particularly viral RNA replication and antiviral innate immunity. FHV RNA1 encodes protein A, which is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) and functions as the sole viral replicase protein responsible for RNA replication. Although the RNA replication of FHV has been studied in considerable detail, the mechanism employed by FHV protein A to initiate RNA synthesis has not been determined. In this study, we characterized the RdRP activity of FHV protein A in detail and revealed that it can initiate RNA synthesis via a de novo (primer-independent) mechanism. Moreover, we found that FHV protein A also possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase (TNTase) activity, which was able to restore the nucleotide loss at the 3'-end initiation site of RNA template to rescue RNA synthesis initiation in vitro, and may function as a rescue and protection mechanism to protect the 3' initiation site, and ensure the efficiency and accuracy of viral RNA synthesis. Altogether, our study establishes the de novo initiation mechanism of RdRP and the terminal rescue mechanism of TNTase for FHV protein A, and represents an important advance toward understanding FHV RNA replication.
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spelling doaj.art-dde9aaa73fbb4612b1f063b907ac2ec22022-12-21T18:42:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0191e8687610.1371/journal.pone.0086876Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.Wenzhe WuZhaowei WangHongjie XiaYongxiang LiuYang QiuYujie LiuYuanyang HuXi ZhouFlock House virus (FHV) is a positive-stranded RNA virus with a bipartite genome of RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2, and belongs to the family Nodaviridae. As the most extensively studied nodavirus, FHV has become a well-recognized model for studying various aspects of RNA virology, particularly viral RNA replication and antiviral innate immunity. FHV RNA1 encodes protein A, which is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) and functions as the sole viral replicase protein responsible for RNA replication. Although the RNA replication of FHV has been studied in considerable detail, the mechanism employed by FHV protein A to initiate RNA synthesis has not been determined. In this study, we characterized the RdRP activity of FHV protein A in detail and revealed that it can initiate RNA synthesis via a de novo (primer-independent) mechanism. Moreover, we found that FHV protein A also possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase (TNTase) activity, which was able to restore the nucleotide loss at the 3'-end initiation site of RNA template to rescue RNA synthesis initiation in vitro, and may function as a rescue and protection mechanism to protect the 3' initiation site, and ensure the efficiency and accuracy of viral RNA synthesis. Altogether, our study establishes the de novo initiation mechanism of RdRP and the terminal rescue mechanism of TNTase for FHV protein A, and represents an important advance toward understanding FHV RNA replication.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3900681?pdf=render
spellingShingle Wenzhe Wu
Zhaowei Wang
Hongjie Xia
Yongxiang Liu
Yang Qiu
Yujie Liu
Yuanyang Hu
Xi Zhou
Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.
PLoS ONE
title Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.
title_full Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.
title_fullStr Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.
title_full_unstemmed Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.
title_short Flock house virus RNA polymerase initiates RNA synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity.
title_sort flock house virus rna polymerase initiates rna synthesis de novo and possesses a terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3900681?pdf=render
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