Easily unwound DNA sequences and hairpin structures in the Epstein-Barr virus origin of plasmid replication.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) origin of plasmid replication (oriP) includes two known cis-acting components, the dyad symmetry region and the family of repeats. We used P1 nuclease, a single-strand-specific endonuclease, to probe EBV oriP for DNA sequences that are intrinsically easy to unwind on a negatively supercoiled plasmid. Selective nuclease hypersensitivity was detected in the family of repeats on an oriP-containing plasmid and in the dyad symmetry region on a plasmid that lacks the family of repeats, indicating that the DNA in both cis-acting components is intrinsically easy to unwind. The hierarchy of nuclease hypersensitivity indicates that the family of repeats is more easily unwound than the dyad symmetry region, consistent with the hierarchy of helical stability predicted by computer analysis of the DNA sequence. A specific subset of the family of repeats is nuclease hypersensitive, and the DNA structure deduced from nucleotide-level analysis of the P1 nuclease nicks is a cruciform near a single-stranded bubble. The dyad symmetry region unwinds to form a broad single-stranded bubble containing hairpins in the 65-bp dyad sequence. We propose that the intrinsic ease of unwinding the dyad symmetry region, the actual origin of DNA replication, is an important component in the mechanism of initiation.     

Plasmid maintenance of derivatives of oriP of Epstein-Barr virus.

oriP is the origin of plasmid replication of Epstein-Barr virus. Replication from oriP requires both the cis-acting elements (the family of repeats and the dyad symmetry element) and the viral origin-binding protein, EBNA-1. The ability of plasmids containing oriP to be maintained stably in EBNA-1-positive cells reflects the efficiency both of their replication and of their segregation each cell cycle. The efficiency of plasmid maintenance was determined for plasmids containing derivatives of oriP with one copy of the dyad symmetry element and two copies of the family of repeats by measuring the rate at which they were lost from cells in the absence of selection. These measurements demonstrated that plasmids with derivatives of oriP with two copies of the family of repeats in one orientation are maintained only slightly less efficiently than is wild-type oriP. To determine whether plasmid maintenance could be affected by reinitiation at the dyad symmetry element (T. A. Gahn and C. L. Schildkraut, Cell 58:527-535, 1989), plasmids containing derivatives of oriP with two copies of the dyad symmetry element and one copy of the family of repeats were compared with plasmids containing wild-type oriP in EBNA-1-positive cells. These measurements showed that plasmids containing a derivative of oriP with two copies of the dyad symmetry element are maintained as efficiently as is wild-type oriP and are not amplified relative to wild-type oriP. These observations indicate that the trans-acting factors that regulate DNA to replicate once per S phase are insensitive to multiple cis-acting regulatory sites within a replicon.     

Rep*: a Viral Element That Can Partially Replace the Origin of Plasmid DNA Synthesis of Epstein-Barr Virus

Replication of the Epstein-Barr viral (EBV) genome occurs once per cell cycle during latent infection. Similarly, plasmids containing EBV’s plasmid origin of replication, oriP, are replicated once per cell cycle. Replication from oriP requires EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1) in trans; however, its contributions to this replication are unknown. oriP contains 24 EBNA-1 binding sites; 20 are located within the family of repeats, and 4 are found within the dyad symmetry element. The site of initiation of DNA replication within oriP is at or near the dyad symmetry element. We have identified a plasmid that contains the family of repeats but lacks the dyad symmetry element whose replication can be detected for a limited number of cell cycles. The detection of short-term replication of this plasmid requires EBNA-1 and can be inhibited by a dominant-negative inhibitor of EBNA-1. We have identified two regions within this plasmid which can independently contribute to this replication in the absence of the dyad symmetry element of oriP. One region contains native EBV sequences within the BamHI C fragment of the B95-8 genome of EBV; the other contains sequences within the simian virus 40 genome. We have mapped the region contributing to replication within the EBV sequences to a 298-bp fragment, Rep*. Plasmids which contain three copies of Rep* plus the family of repeats support replication more efficiently than those with one copy, consistent with a stochastic model for the initiation of DNA synthesis. Plasmids with three copies of Rep* also support long-term replication in the presence of EBNA-1. These observations together indicate that the latent origin of replication of EBV is more complex than formerly appreciated; it is a multicomponent origin of which the dyad symmetry element is one efficient component. The experimental approach described here could be used to identify eukaryotic sequences which mediate DNA synthesis, albeit inefficiently.     

Effect of number and position of EBNA-1 binding sites in Epstein-Barr virus oriP on the sites of initiation, barrier formation, and termination of replication.

DNA replication intermediates of three plasmids containing all or part of a modified Epstein-Barr virus cis-acting plasmid maintenance region (oriP) were examined to further investigate oriP function. Replication intermediates were analyzed in vivo and in vitro by neutral-neutral two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The major functional components of the wild-type oriP are a 140-bp dyad symmetry region (single dyad) and 20 tandem copies of a repeat with a 30-bp consensus sequence (family of repeats). A modified oriP was constructed by replacing the family of repeats with three tandem copies of the single dyad (D. A. Wysokenski and J. L. Yates, J. Virol. 63:2657-2666, 1989). Initiation was observed in vivo near the single dyad in the modified oriP, as seen in the wild-type oriP (T. A. Gahn and C. L. Schildkraut, Cell 58:527-535, 1989), but was not observed near the tandem dyads. A replication barrier and termination were observed near the tandem dyads and were similar to those observed at the family of repeats of the wild-type oriP (Gahn and Schildkraut, Cell 58:527-535, 1989). In vitro experiments indicate that the viral trans-acting factor EBNA-1 contributes to efficient barrier formation at the tandem dyads as observed in the family of repeats of the wild-type oriP (V. Dhar and C. L. Schildkraut, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:6268-6278, 1991). The tandem dyads thus appear to function in a manner similar to the family of repeats. There are significant structural differences between the family of repeats and tandem dyads. The relationship between the number and relative positions of EBNA-1 binding sites in relation to the functions of the family of repeats and the dyad symmetry element is discussed.     

The Epstein-Barr virus origin of plasmid replication, oriP, contains both the initiation and termination sites of DNA replication

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) oriP contains two components, a dyad symmetry element and a direct repeat element, that, in the presence of EBV nuclear antigen 1, are necessary and sufficient for plasmid replication. We have examined the replicative forms generated by EBV oriP using 2D gel electrophoresis. The patterns obtained from an oriP plasmid in a transfected cell line indicate that the site of initiation of DNA replication is at or very near the dyad symmetry element, while the direct repeats contain a replication fork barrier and the termination site. Thus, replication from oriP proceeds in a predominantly undirectional manner. The patterns obtained from cells immortalized by EBV suggest that replication from oriP proceeds similarly in the viral genome.     

Human origin recognition complex binds to the region of the latent origin of DNA replication of Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) replicates in its latent phase once per cell cycle in proliferating B cells. The latent origin of DNA replication, oriP, supports replication and stable maintenance of the EBV genome. OriP comprises two essential elements: the dyad symmetry (DS) and the family of repeats (FR), both containing clusters of binding sites for the transactivator EBNA1. The DS element appears to be the functional replicator. It is not yet understood how oriP-dependent replication is integrated into the cell cycle and how EBNA1 acts at the molecular level. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, we show that the human origin recognition complex (hsORC) binds at or near the DS element. The association of hsORC with oriP depends on the DS element. Deletion of this element not only abolishes hsORC binding but also reduces replication initiation at oriP to background level. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that EBNA1 is associated with hsORC in vivo. These results indicate that oriP might use the same cellular initiation factors that regulate chromosomal replication, and that EBNA1 may be involved in recruiting hsORC to oriP.     

Initiation of DNA replication within oriP is dispensable for stable replication of the latent Epstein-Barr virus chromosome after infection of established cell lines

The 165-kb circularized chromosome of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is replicated in latently infected cells once per cell cycle by host proteins during S phase. Replication initiates at multiple sites on latent EBV chromosomes, including within a 1.8-kb region called oriP, which can provide both replication and stabilization for recombinant plasmids in the presence of the EBV-encoded protein, EBNA-1. Replication initiates at or near the dyad symmetry component (DS) of oriP, which depends on multiple EBNA-1 binding sites for activity. To test the importance of the replication function of oriP, the DS was deleted from the viral genome. EBV mutants lacking the DS and carrying a selectable gene could establish latent infections in BL30 cells, in which circular, mutant viral chromosomes were stably maintained. Analysis of replication fork movement using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed that the deletion of the DS reduced the initiation events to an undetectable level within the oriP region so that this segment was replicated exclusively by forks entering the region from either direction. A significant slowing or stalling of replication forks that occurs normally at the approximate position of the DS was also eliminated by deletion of the DS. The results confirm the DS as both a replication origin and a place where replication forks pause. Since the replication function of oriP is dispensable at least in certain cell lines, the essential role of EBNA-1 for infection of these cell lines is likely to be that of stabilizing the EBV chromosome by associating with the 30-bp repeats of oriP. The results also imply that in established cell lines, the EBV chromosome can be efficiently replicated entirely from origins that are activated by cellular factors. Presumably, initiation of replication at the DS, mediated by EBNA-1, is important for the natural life cycle of EBV, perhaps in establishing latent infections of normal B cells.     

Functional limits of oriP, the Epstein-Barr virus plasmid origin of replication.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome contains two cis-acting elements which are required for stable extrachromosomal plasmid maintenance in latently infected cells. The first consists of 20 30-base-pair (bp) repeats, each of which contains a DNA-binding site for EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1), the trans-acting factor required for plasmid persistence. The second element is composed of a 65-bp dyad symmetry, containing four EBNA-1-binding sites. Deletion mutants were constructed which reduce the number of EBNA-1-binding sites in the 30-bp repeats, alter the number of EBNA-1-binding sites in the dyad region, or truncate the dyad element. The effect of the deletion mutations on plasmid maintenance was examined by transfecting recombinant plasmids, containing both the mutated EBV sequences and a drug resistance marker, into D98-Raji cells. The plasmids were tested for their ability to generate drug-resistant D98-Raji cell colonies and their capacity to be maintained in an extrachromosomal form without undergoing extensive rearrangements. EBV plasmids with 12 or 15 copies of the 30-bp repeats were wild type in both assays. Plasmids with just two or six copies of these repeated elements failed to generate drug-resistant colonies at a normal level, and normal episomal plasmids were not detected in the resulting colonies. Rare colonies of cells resulting from transfection of these two- or six-copy mutants contained rearranged, episomal forms of the input plasmids. The rearrangements most often produced head-to-tail oligomers containing a minimum of eight 30-bp repeated elements. The rearranged plasmids were shown to be revertant for plasmid maintenance in that they yielded wild-type or greater numbers of drug-resistant colonies and persisted at the wild-type or a greater episomal copy number. By use of an EBV plasmid that contained no 30-bp elements, no revertants could be isolated. One to five copies of a synthetic linker corresponding to a consensus 30-bp repeated element inserted into a plasmid with no 30-bp elements now permitted the generation of oligomeric, episomal forms of the mutant test plasmid. These experiments demonstrate a requirement for a minimal number (six to eight copies) of the 30-bp repeated element. Deletions in the 65-bp dyad region had little or no effect upon the ability to generate enhanced numbers of drug-resistant D98-Raji colonies, indicating that the 30-bp repeated element is predominantly required for this phenotype.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Initiation of latent DNA replication in the Epstein-Barr virus genome can occur at sites other than the genetically defined origin.

Our laboratory has previously shown that replication of a small plasmid, p174, containing the genetically defined Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent origin of replication, oriP, initiates within oriP at or near a dyad symmetry (DS) element and terminates specifically at a family of repeated sequences (FR), also located within oriP. We describe here an analysis of the replication of intact approximately 170-kb EBV genomes in four latently infected cell lines that uses two-dimensional gel replicon mapping. Initiation was detected at oriP in all EBV genomes examined; however, some replication forks appear to originate from alternative initiation sites. In addition, pausing of replication forks was observed at the two clusters of EBV nuclear antigen 1 binding sites within oriP and at or near two highly expressed viral genes 0.5 to 1 kb upstream of oriP, the EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) genes. In the Raji EBV genome, the relative abundance of these stalled forks and the direction in which they are stalled indicate that most replication forks originate upstream of oriP. We thus searched for additional initiation sites in the Raji EBV and found that the majority of initiation events were distributed over a broad region to the left of oriP. This delocalized pattern of initiation resembles initiation of replication in several well-characterized mammalian chromosomal loci and is the first described for any viral genome. EBV thus provides a unique model system with which to investigate factors influencing the selection of replication initiation and termination sites in mammalian cells.     

Sequence-specific DNA binding of the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen (EBNA-1) to clustered sites in the plasmid maintenance region

Latently infected B lymphocytes continuously express an Epstein-Barr Virus nuclear antigen (EBNA-1) required in trans for maintenance of the plasmid state of the EBV genome. Filter binding assays and DNAase I footprinting analyses revealed that the carboxy-terminal domain of EBNA-1 protects binding sites at three different loci in the 172,000 bp EBV genome. Two of these loci correspond to essential elements within an 1800 bp segment defined as the minimal region required for plasmid maintenance (ori-P). Binding to each of 20 X 30 bp tandem repeats in the "sink" locus protects 25 bp centered over a 12 bp palindromic consensus sequence TAGCATATGCTA. The nearby dyad symmetry "origin" locus contains two 46 bp protected regions each encompassing two paired core binding sites. The demonstration of sequence-specific binding at multiple loci suggests that EBNA-1 has pleiotropic functions, which may include control of copy number and segregation of the EBV plasmids as well as initiation of replication.     

Identification of EBNA1 amino acid sequences required for the interaction of the functional elements of the Epstein-Barr virus latent origin of DNA replication.

Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) activates DNA replication from the Epstein-Barr virus latent origin, oriP. This activation involves the direct interaction of EBNA1 dimers with multiple sites within the two noncontiguous functional elements of the origin, the family of repeats (FR) element and the dyad symmetry (DS) element. The efficient interaction of EBNA1 dimers bound to these two elements in oriP results in the formation of DNA loops in which the FR and DS elements are bound together through EBNA1. In order to elucidate the mechanism by which EBNA1 induces oriP DNA looping, we have investigated the DNA sequences and EBNA1 amino acids required for EBNA1-mediated DNA looping. Using a series of truncation mutants of EBNA1 produced in baculovirus and purified to apparent homogeneity, we have demonstrated that the EBNA1 DNA binding and dimerization domain is not sufficient to mediate oriP DNA looping and that an additional region(s) located between amino acids 346 and 450 is required. Single EBNA1-binding sites, separated by 930 bp of plasmid DNA, were also shown to support EBNA1-mediated looping, indicating that the formation of large EBNA1 complexes, such as those observed on oriP FR and DS elements, is not a requirement for looping.     

The dyad symmetry element of Epstein-Barr virus is a dominant but dispensable replication origin

OriP, the latent origin of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), consists of two essential elements: the dyad symmetry (DS) and the family of repeats (FR). The function of these elements has been predominantly analyzed in plasmids transfected into transformed cells. Here, we examined the molecular functions of DS in its native genomic context and at an ectopic position in the mini-EBV episome. Mini-EBV plasmids contain 41% of the EBV genome including all information required for the proliferation of human B cells. Both FR and DS function independently of their genomic context. We show that DS is the most active origin of replication present in the mini-EBV genome regardless of its location, and it is characterized by the binding of the origin recognition complex (ORC) allowing subsequent replication initiation. Surprisingly, the integrity of oriP is not required for the formation of the pre-replicative complex (pre-RC) at or near DS. In addition we show that initiation events occurring at sites other than the DS are also limited to once per cell cycle and that they are ORC-dependent. The deletion of DS increases initiation from alternative origins, which are normally used very infrequently in the mini-EBV genome. The sequence-independent distribution of ORC-binding, pre-RC-assembly, and initiation patterns indicates that a large number of silent origins are present in the mini-EBV genome. We conclude that, in mini-EBV genomes lacking the DS element, the absence of a strong ORC binding site results in an increase of ORC binding at dispersed sites.     

Coupling of mitotic chromosome tethering and replication competence in epstein-barr virus-based plasmids

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) replicates once per cell cycle and segregates with high efficiency yet does not encode the enzymes needed for DNA replication or the proteins required to contact mitotic spindles. The virus-encoded EBNA-1 (EBV nuclear antigen 1) and latent replication origin (oriP) are required for both replication and segregation. We developed a sensitive and specific fluorescent labeling strategy to analyze the interactions of both EBNA-1 with viral episomes and viral episomes with host chromosomes. This enabled investigation of the hypothesis that replication and chromosome tethering are linked through the EBNA-1 protein. We show that deleting EBNA-1 or oriP disrupts mitotic chromosome tethering but removing the dyad symmetry element of oriP does not. Microscopic and biochemical approaches demonstrated that an EBNA-1 mutant lacking residues 16 to 372 bound to oriP plasmids but did not support their mitotic chromosome association and that the mutant lost the ability of wild-type EBNA-1 to associate with interphase chromatin. Importantly, the transient-replication abilities of various mutant forms of EBV plasmids, including the mutant form with the EBNA-1 internal deletion, correlated directly with their chromosome-tethering abilities. These data lead us to propose that EBNA-1 recruits oriP-containing plasmids into chromatin subdomains in interphase nuclei to both engage the host replication machinery and enable the plasmids to adhere to host chromosomes to increase their segregation efficiency.     

Specific Methylation Patterns in Two Control Regions of Epstein-Barr Virus Latency: the LMP-1-Coding Upstream Regulatory Region and an Origin of DNA Replication (oriP)

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can establish at least four different forms of latent infection. Previously, we have shown that the level of methylation of the EBV genome varies, depending on the form of latency. The methylation status of CpGs was analyzed by the bisulfite genomic sequencing technique in four different cell types representing different forms of latency. The dyad symmetry element of the origin of replication (oriP) region and the latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) regulatory sequence (LRS) were studied. The dyad symmetry element has four binding sites for EBNA-1. In a cell with type I latency, a region upstream of the dyad symmetry element was highly methylated, whereas the dyad symmetry element was unmethylated in the EBNA-1-binding region. The LRS was extensively methylated in the LMP-1-negative cell line Rael, in contrast to a LMP-1-expressing nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumor (NPC C15), which was almost completely unmethylated. The methylation pattern of LRS in type I and type III Burkitt lymphoma cells of similar parental origins confirmed that demethylation of some regions takes place upon phenotypic drift.     

Cooperative assembly of EBNA1 on the Epstein-Barr virus latent origin of replication.

The EBNA1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) activates DNA replication by binding to multiple copies of its 18-bp recognition sequence present in the Epstein-Barr virus latent origin of DNA replication, oriP. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we have localized the minimal DNA binding domain of EBNA1 to between amino acids 470 and 607. We have also demonstrated that EBNA1 assembles cooperatively on the dyad symmetry subelement of oriP and that this cooperative interaction is mediated by residues within the minimal DNA binding and dimerization domain of EBNA1.