Structural analyses of Avocado sunblotch viroid reveal differences in the folding of plus and minus RNA strands.

ABSTRACT: Viroids are small pathogenic circular single-stranded RNAs, present in two complementary sequences, named plus and minus, in infected plant cells. A high degree of complementarities between different regions of the RNAs allows them to adopt complex structures. Since viroids are naked non-coding RNAs, interactions with host factors appear to be closely related to their structural and catalytic characteristics. Avocado sunblotch viroid (ASBVd), a member of the family Avsunviroidae, replicates via a symmetric RNA-dependant rolling-circle process, involving self-cleavage via hammerhead ribozymes. Consequently, it is assumed that ASBVd plus and minus strands adopt similar structures. Moreover, by computer analyses, a quasi-rod-like secondary structure has been predicted. Nevertheless, secondary

SUBMITTER: Delan-Forino C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3939467 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature