TY - JOUR
T1 - Secondary structure of the HIV-2 leader RNA comprising the tRNA-primer binding site
AU - Berkhout, B.
AU - Schoneveld, I.
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - The initiation of reverse transcription of a retroviral RNA genome occurs by a tRNA primer bound near the 5' end of the genomic RNA at a position called the primer-binding site (PBS). To understand the molecular basis for this RNA-RNA interaction, the secondary structure of the leader RNA of the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) RNA was analyzed. In vitro synthesized HIV-2 RNA was probed with various structure-specific enzymes and chemicals. A computer program was then used to predict the secondary structure consistent with these data. In addition, the nucleotide sequences of different HIV-2 isolates were used to screen for the occurrence of covariation among putative base pairs. The primary sequences have diverged rapidly in some HIV-2 isolates, however, some strikingly conserved secondary structure elements were identified. Most nucleotides in the leader region are involved in base pairing. An exception is the PBS sequence, of which 15 out of 18 nucleotides are exposed in an internal loop. These findings suggest that the overall structure of the HIV-2 genome has evolved to facilitate an optimal interaction with its tRNA primer
AB - The initiation of reverse transcription of a retroviral RNA genome occurs by a tRNA primer bound near the 5' end of the genomic RNA at a position called the primer-binding site (PBS). To understand the molecular basis for this RNA-RNA interaction, the secondary structure of the leader RNA of the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) RNA was analyzed. In vitro synthesized HIV-2 RNA was probed with various structure-specific enzymes and chemicals. A computer program was then used to predict the secondary structure consistent with these data. In addition, the nucleotide sequences of different HIV-2 isolates were used to screen for the occurrence of covariation among putative base pairs. The primary sequences have diverged rapidly in some HIV-2 isolates, however, some strikingly conserved secondary structure elements were identified. Most nucleotides in the leader region are involved in base pairing. An exception is the PBS sequence, of which 15 out of 18 nucleotides are exposed in an internal loop. These findings suggest that the overall structure of the HIV-2 genome has evolved to facilitate an optimal interaction with its tRNA primer
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/21.5.1171
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/21.5.1171
M3 - Article
C2 - 8464701
SN - 0305-1048
VL - 21
SP - 1171
EP - 1178
JO - Nucleic Acids Research
JF - Nucleic Acids Research
IS - 5
ER -