Mutagenesis Mapping of RNA Structures within the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Genome Reveals Functional Elements Localized in the Polymerase (3D^pol)-Encoding Region.

ABSTRACT: RNA structures can form functional elements that play crucial roles in the replication of positive-sense RNA viruses. While RNA structures in the untranslated regions (UTRs) of several picornaviruses have been functionally characterized, the roles of putative RNA structures predicted for protein coding sequences (or open reading frames [ORFs]) remain largely undefined. Here, we have undertaken a bioinformatic analysis of the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) genome to predict 53 conserved RNA structures within the ORF. Forty-six of these structures were located in the regions encoding the nonstructural proteins (nsps). To investigate whether structures located in the regions encoding the nsps are required for FMDV replication, we used a mutagenesis method, CDLR mapping, where sequential

SUBMITTER: Lasecka-Dykes L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8386395 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature