Baculovirus lef-12 is not required for viral replication

The baculovirus lef-12 (orf41) gene is required for transient expression of baculovirus late genes. To analyze the role of LEF-12 in the context of infected cells, two mutant viruses were constructed. Both mutants were viable in Trichoplusia ni High 5 and Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells. Single-step growth curves, however, indicated that virus yields were reduced approximately fivefold in the absence of LEF-12. Pulse-labeling of infected cells revealed that LEF-12 mutant viruses entered the late phase and synthesized late proteins at levels equivalent to or only twofold lower than those of wild-type virus-infected cells. Western blot analyses confirmed that LEF-12 was not synthesized in cells infected with mutant virus. In wild-type virus-infected cells, LEF-12 was not detected until 18 h postinfection, and accumulation of LEF-12 peaked at 24 to 36 h postinfection. Primer extension mapping revealed that lef-12 mRNA was synthesized by 12 h postinfection and peaked between 18 and 24 h postinfection. Furthermore, synthesis of lef-12 mRNA and LEF-12 protein were inhibited by the addition of aphidicolin, indicating that lef-12 is expressed after DNA replication.     

Temporal aspects of DNA and RNA synthesis during human immunodeficiency virus infection: evidence for differential gene expression.

The kinetics of retroviral DNA and RNA synthesis are parameters vital to understanding viral growth, especially for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which encodes several of its own regulatory genes. We have established a single-cycle growth condition for HIV in H9 cells, a human CD4+ lymphocyte line. The full-length viral linear DNA is first detectable by 4 h postinfection. During a one-step growth of HIV, amounts of viral DNA gradually increase until 8 to 12 h postinfection and then decrease. The copy number of unintegrated viral DNA is not extraordinarily high even at its peak. Most strikingly, there is a temporal program of RNA accumulation: the earliest RNA is greatly enriched in the 2-kilobase subgenomic mRNA species, while the level of 9.2-kilobase RNA which is both genomic RNA and mRNA remains low until after 24 h of infection. Virus production begins at about 24 h postinfection. Thus, viral DNA synthesis is as rapid as for other retroviruses, but viral RNA synthesis involves temporal alteration in the species that accumulate, presumably as a consequence of viral regulatory genes.     

Xenopus ATR is a replication-dependent chromatin-binding protein required for the DNA replication checkpoint

BACKGROUND: The DNA replication checkpoint ensures that mitosis is not initiated before DNA synthesis is completed. Recent studies using Xenopus extracts have demonstrated that activation of the replication checkpoint and phosphorylation of the Chk1 kinase are dependent on RNA primer synthesis by DNA polymerase alpha, and it has been suggested that the ATR kinase-so-called because it is related to the product of the gene that is mutated in ataxia telangiectasia (ATM) and to Rad3 kinase-may be an upstream component of this response. It has been difficult to test this hypothesis as an ATR-deficient system suitable for biochemical studies has not been available. RESULTS: We have cloned the Xenopus laevis homolog of ATR (XATR) and studied the function of the protein in Xenopus egg extracts. Using a chromatin-binding assay, we found that ATR associates with chromatin after initiation of replication, dissociates from chromatin upon completion of replication, and accumulates in the presence of aphidicolin, an inhibitor of DNA replication. Its association with chromatin was inhibited by treatment with actinomycin D, an inhibitor of RNA primase. There was an early rise in the activity of Cdc2-cyclin B in egg extracts depleted of ATR both in the presence or absence of aphidicolin. In addition, the premature mitosis observed upon depletion of ATR was accompanied by the loss of Chk1 phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: ATR is a replication-dependent chromatin-binding protein, and its association with chromatin is dependent on RNA synthesis by DNA polymerase alpha. Depletion of ATR leads to premature mitosis in the presence and absence of aphidicolin, indicating that ATR is required for the DNA replication checkpoint.     

Control of cellular gene expression during adenovirus infection: induction and shut-off of dihydrofolate reductase gene expression by adenovirus type 2.

Infection of human cells by adenovirus results in multiple alterations of host gene expression. To examine the effects of viral infection on the expression of a single gene, a line of human cells was developed which is resistant to growth in methotrexate and which contains amplified RNA and protein specific for dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Cytogenetic evidence indicated the presence of amplified DNA. Adenovirus infection of these cells caused an induction and subsequent decline in the synthesis of DHFR protein. The maximum DHFR induction occurred 16 to 19 h after infection and reached a level 2.5-fold greater than that observed in uninfected cells. Induction of DHFR protein synthesis was accompanied by concomitant increases in the level of steady-state DHFR-specific cytoplasmic RNA. The relative rate of DHFR mRNA production (i.e., the appearance of DHFR-specific mRNA sequences in the cytoplasm) also increased 2.5-fold during induction. Later in infection, the relative rate of DHFR protein synthesis declined, reaching a level below that observed in uninfected cells. This decline was accompanied by a similar decline in the steady-state levels of DHFR RNA and in the relative rate of synthesis of DHFR mRNA. These data suggest that adenovirus infection controls DHFR gene expression by increasing and subsequently decreasing the relative rate at which DHFR-specific mRNA sequences appear in the cytoplasm and enter the pool of mRNA available for translation.