Project description:Encoding only ten major proteins, Influenza A virus (IAV) gains access to both the cell and nucleus, replicates its eight genomic segments, then enters the cytoplasm to assemble and egress. This is achieved through an expansive network of interactions with the host and a coordinated production of viral components. Here we show that upon infection, primary transcription of the virus results in the accumulation of the splice product, Nuclear Export Protein (NEP), which associates with the viral polymerase leading to the synthesis of segment-specific small viral RNAs (svRNAs). Here we demonstrate that svRNA biology is responsible for coordinating segment-specific amplification and is predominantly required for amplification of the three larger polymerase segments. Generation of svRNA ambiguity results in predictable changes in segment-specific vRNA levels and up to a five log attenuation. Together, these data elucidate the molecular function of svRNAs as essential mediators responsible for maintaining a stoichiometric balance between genomic segments and establish these small RNAs as functional components of the virus.
