Immediate-early mRNA-2 of herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 is unspliced: conserved sequences around the 5' and 3' termini correspond to transcription regulatory signals

Nuclease S1 and exonuclease VII analyses of immediate-early (IE) mRNA-2 of herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2) show them to be unspliced and of similar length. The DNA sequences around the 5' and 3' termini have been determined. Comparison of the sequences around the 5' ends reveals several common features. (1) Four discrete blocks of upstream homology which are precisely colinear with respect to the 5' termini of the mRNAs; the blocks include the 'TATA' box, a G-C rich sequence and a sequence (AATTAAATACAT) which may be involved in the coordinate induction of the IE class of genes. (2) Several copies of the sequence CCCCGCCC, found in different upstream positions in HSV-1 and HSV-2, which may be important in the expression of a wide variety of eukaryotic genes. (3) Potential hairpin structures in the region of the 5' termini which are present at similar locations in HSV-1 and HSV-2. Sequence comparison around the 3' termini of IEmRNA-2 reveals high homology at the proposed C-terminus of the polypeptide.     

Tandem repeated DNA in an intergenic region of Herpes simplex virus type 1 (Patton)

When the entire U_s region of HSV-1 (Patton) was cloned as an EcoRI fragment in bacteriophage λgtWES, the BamHI B6B5 fragment was observed to vary in size among independent isolates [Umene and Enquist, Gene 13 (1981) 251–268]. This fragment polymorphism also occurred in DNA of HSV-1 single plaque isolates. We report here that this heterogeneity is due to variation in copy number of a 15-bp tandem repeat of sequence 5'-CCACTCCCCACCCAC-3', which apparently lies in an intergenic region of the HSV-1 DNA.     

Detailed structural analysis of two spliced HSV-1 immediate-early mRNAs.

The structures of two HSV-1 immediate-early mRNAs have been determined by nuclease-digestion procedures using 5' and 3' end-labelled DNA probes. These mRNAs, which map across the junctions between the short unique (US) and short repeat (IRS and TRS) genome regions, have common 5' portions located in IRS and TRS. The 3' portions, which extend into opposite ends of US, and unique. The DNA sequence encoding the common 5' portions largely comprises a 247 base pair (bp) leader region and a single intron of variable size. The variation in intron length is due to different copy numbers of a 22 bp tandem reiteration. A small proportion of the mRNA population is unspliced, but otherwise is identical to the more abundant spliced species.     

Primary structure of an aminoglycoside 6''-N-acetyltransferase AAC(6'')-4, fused in vivo with the signal peptide of the Tn3-encoded beta-lactamase.

The gene aacA4 encoding an aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase, AAC(6')-4, was cloned from a natural multiresistance plasmid, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The gene was 600 base pairs (bp) long, and the AAC(6')-4 had a calculated molecular size of 22.4 kilodaltons and an isoelectric point of 5.35. The sequence of the 17 N-terminal amino acids was determined from the purified enzyme. The AAC(6')-4 gene was part of a resistance gene cluster, and its expression was under the control of the regulatory sequences of the beta-lactamase encoded by Tn3. The five N-terminal amino acids were identical to those of the signal peptide of the Tn3-encoded beta-lactamase, and the entire 5' region of aacA4, as far as it was sequenced (354 bp, including the promoter and the ribosome-binding site sequences), was identical to that of the beta-lactamase gene. This led us to presume an in vivo fusion between the beta-lactamase and the acetyltransferase genes. The latter was followed, in a polycistronic arrangement, by an aminoglycoside 3",9-adenylyltransferase gene, aadA, with an intergenic region of 68 bp. At a distance of ca. 1.3 kilobases in the 3' direction, we found remnants of a second Tn3-like element specifying an active beta-lactamase. At their 5' extremities, the two incomplete copies of Tn3, which were in tandem orientation, were interrupted within the resolvase gene. We speculate that Tn3-related sequences have played a role in the process of selection and dissemination of the AAC(6')-4 gene, which specifies resistance to amikacin and related aminoglycosides.     

Conserved regions in defective interfering viral double-stranded RNAs from a yeast virus.

We have completely sequenced a defective interfering viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae virus. This RNA (S14) is a simple internal deletion of its parental dsRNA, M1, of 1.9 kilobases. The 5' 964 bases of the M1 plus strand encode the type 1 killer toxin of the yeast. S14 is 793 base pairs (bp) long, with 253 bp from the 5' region of its parental plus strand and 540 bp from the 3' region. All three defective interfering RNAs derived from M1 that have been characterized so far preserve a large 3' region, which includes five repeats of a rotationally symmetrical 11-bp consensus sequence. This 11-bp sequence is not present in the 5' 1 kilobase of the parental RNA or in any of the sequenced regions of unrelated yeast viral dsRNAs, but it is present in the 3' region of the plus strand of another yeast viral dsRNA, M2, that encodes the type 2 killer toxin. The 3' region of 550 bases of the M1 plus strand, previously only partially sequenced, reveals no large open reading frames. Hence only about half of M1 appears to have a coding function.     

Characterization of a bovine herpesvirus 4 immediate-early RNA encoding a homolog of the Epstein-Barr virus R transactivator.

Immediate-early (IE) RNA 2, the less abundant of two bovine herpesvirus 4 (BHV-4) RNAs detected in Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells infected in the presence of cycloheximide, is a 1.8-kb cytoplasmic polyadenylated RNA transcribed from the 8.3-kb HindIII fragment F. The structure of IE RNA 2 has been determined by S1 nuclease and exonuclease VII mapping, primer extension analysis, and sequencing of a partial cDNA. IE RNA 2 consists of a short, approximately 60-nucleotide 5' exon spliced to a 1.8-kb 3' exon. DNA sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame encoding 551 amino acids with sequence homology to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) R transactivator and its homolog in herpesvirus saimiri, HVS.R.IE 2 and HVS.R show higher homology to each other than to the EBV R transactivator. The homology is highest in the approximately 320 amino-terminal amino acids. All three proteins have acidic carboxyl termini but have little amino acid sequence homology in this region. In transient expression cotransfection assays, IE 2 activated expression from the BHV-4 early promoter-regulatory region of the major DNA-binding protein homolog over 100-fold in bovine turbinate cells. IE 1 was not necessary for this transactivation and did not augment it. However, IE 2 did not transactivate EBV or herpesvirus saimiri early promoter-regulatory regions that are transactivated by the EBV R transactivator or HVS.R.     

The consensus sequence YGTGTTYY located downstream from the AATAAA signal is required for efficient formation of mRNA 3'' termini.

Our previous DNA sequence comparisons of 3' terminal portions from equivalent herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 genes identified a conserved sequence (consensus YGTGTTYY; Y = pyrimidine) located approximately 30bp downstream from the AATAAA signal. We report here that this signal is located downstream from 67% of the mammalian mRNA 3' termini examined. Using constructions with the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene linked to an HSV 'terminator' fragment, we show that deletions in the 'terminator' reduce CAT activities and the levels of CAT mRNA 3' termini. Specifically: (1) deletions of downstream sequences which extend up to the consensus YGTGTTYY signal reduce CAT levels to values 35% of those obtained with undeleted plasmids, (2) a deletion of a further 14bp, which removes the YGTGTTYY consensus but not the poly A site, reduces CAT activities to 1%-4%. The levels of CAT mRNA 3' termini reflect the reductions in CAT activities however, levels of mRNA 5' termini are unaffected by these deletions. The RNA produced in the absence of the YGTGTTYY signal is present in the cytoplasm although no CAT activity is detectable.     

稻瘟病菌(Magnaporthe grisea)诱导的水稻早期反应基因ER1的5' 端cDNA片段克隆及序列分析

研究高等生物基因表达与调控的一个重要方面是分离基因的编码区及其上游的调控序列（ＤｅＶｅｅｒ等１９９７）,这需要获得一个基因的ｃＤＮＡ全长及从植物基因组获取全基因。在前文（周建明等１９９９）中曾经分离了稻瘟病菌侵染诱导的水稻早期反应基因ＥＲ１的ｃＤＮＡ片段,但是运用ｍＲＮＡ差异显示技术分离的ｃＤＮＡ片段往往只有近ｍＲＮＡ３’端的一部分,难以反映基因的结构及功能特点,因此,必须进一步分离其５’端的部分才有可能比较全面地了解此基因的特点。ＲＡＣＥ（ｒａｐｉｄａｍｐｌｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎｏｆｃＤＮＡｅｎ…