Few basepairing-independent motifs in the apical half of the avian HBV ε RNA stem-loop determine site-specific initiation of protein-priming.

ABSTRACT: Hepadnaviruses, including human hepatitis B virus (HBV), replicate their tiny DNA genomes by protein-primed reverse transcription of a pregenomic (pg) RNA. Replication initiation as well as pgRNA encapsidation depend on the interaction of the viral polymerase, P protein, with the ε RNA element, featuring a lower and an upper stem, a central bulge, and an apical loop. The bulge, somehow assisted by the loop, acts as template for a P protein-linked DNA oligo that primes full-length minus-strand DNA synthesis. Phylogenetic conservation and earlier mutational studies suggested the highly based-paired ε structure as crucial for productive interaction with P protein. Using the tractable duck HBV (DHBV) model we here interrogated the entire apical DHBV ε (Dε) half for sequence- and structure-depe

SUBMITTER: Gajer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5541001 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature