A high level of mutation tolerance in the multifunctional sequence encoding the RNA encapsidation signal of an avian hepatitis B virus and slow evolution rate revealed by in vivo infection.

ABSTRACT: In all hepadnaviruses, protein-primed reverse transcription of the pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) is initiated by binding of the viral polymerase, P protein, to the ε RNA element. Universally, ε consists of a lower stem and an upper stem, separated by a bulge, and an apical loop. Complex formation triggers pgRNA encapsidation and the ε-templated synthesis of a DNA oligonucleotide (priming) that serves to generate minus-strand DNA. In vitro systems for duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) yielded important insights into the priming mechanism, yet their relevance in infection is largely unexplored. Moreover, additional functions encoded in the DHBV ε (Dε) sequence could affect in vivo fitness. We therefore assessed the in vivo performances of five recombinant DHBVs bearing multiple mutations in the upper D

SUBMITTER: Schmid B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3165760 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature