Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1990 Dec;64(12):5823–5832. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.12.5823-5832.1990

Polyomavirus late pre-mRNA processing: DNA replication-associated changes in leader exon multiplicity suggest a role for leader-to-leader splicing in the early-late switch.

R P Hyde-DeRuyscher 1, G G Carmichael 1
PMCID: PMC248740  PMID: 2173769

Abstract

Polyomavirus late mRNAs contain at their 5' ends multiple, tandem repeats of a 57-base noncoding sequence, the late leader, whose sequence appears only once in the viral genome. Pre-mRNA molecules are processed by a pathway that includes the splicing of late leader exons to each other in giant, multigenome-length precursors which are the result of inefficient transcription termination. We have devised a method involving reverse transcription and the polymerase chain reaction to determine the number of tandem late leader units on polyomavirus late RNA molecules. Using this technique, we have shown that each class of late viral mRNA (mVP1, mVP2, and mVP3) consists of molecules with between 1 and 12 tandem leader units at their 5' ends. Importantly, single-leader RNAs are underrepresented in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus, suggesting that single-leader primary transcripts are preferentially degraded in the nucleus. In addition, the average number of leaders on late RNAs increases in the presence of DNA replication. Taken together with previous work from our laboratory, the results presented here are consistent with a model for the control of late gene expression at the level of RNA splicing and stability which is in turn controlled by the efficiency of transcription termination.

Full text

PDF
5823

Images in this article

5825Image
on p.5825
5826Image
on p.5826
5828Image
on p.5828
5829Image
on p.5829

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Acheson N. H., Buetti E., Scherrer K., Weil R. Transcription of the polyoma virus genome: synthesis and cleavage of giant late polyoma-specific RNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 Sep;68(9):2231–2235. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.9.2231. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Acheson N. H. Polyoma virus giant RNAs contain tandem repeats of the nucleotide sequence of the entire viral genome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Oct;75(10):4754–4758. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.10.4754. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Acheson N. H. Transcription during productive infection with polyoma virus and Simian virus 40. Cell. 1976 May;8(1):1–12. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(76)90179-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Adami G. R., Carmichael G. G. Polyomavirus late leader region serves an essential spacer function necessary for viability and late gene expression. J Virol. 1986 May;58(2):417–425. doi: 10.1128/jvi.58.2.417-425.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Adami G. R., Carmichael G. G. The length but not the sequence of the polyoma virus late leader exon is important for both late RNA splicing and stability. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Mar 25;15(6):2593–2610. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.6.2593. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Adami G. R., Marlor C. W., Barrett N. L., Carmichael G. G. Leader-to-leader splicing is required for efficient production and accumulation of polyomavirus late mRNAs. J Virol. 1989 Jan;63(1):85–93. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.1.85-93.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Beard P., Acheson N. H., Maxwell I. H. Strand-specific transcription of polyoma virus DNA-early in productive infection and in transformed cells. J Virol. 1975 Jan;17(1):20–26. doi: 10.1128/jvi.17.1.20-26.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Brinster R. L., Allen J. M., Behringer R. R., Gelinas R. E., Palmiter R. D. Introns increase transcriptional efficiency in transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Feb;85(3):836–840. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.3.836. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Buchman A. R., Berg P. Comparison of intron-dependent and intron-independent gene expression. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Oct;8(10):4395–4405. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.10.4395. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cahill K. B., Roome A. J., Carmichael G. G. Replication-dependent transactivation of the polyomavirus late promoter. J Virol. 1990 Mar;64(3):992–1001. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.3.992-1001.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Callis J., Fromm M., Walbot V. Introns increase gene expression in cultured maize cells. Genes Dev. 1987 Dec;1(10):1183–1200. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.10.1183. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Cogen B. Virus-specific early RNA in 3T6 cells infected by a tsA mutant of polyoma virus. Virology. 1978 Mar;85(1):222–230. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(78)90426-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Cowie A., Tyndall C., Kamen R. Sequences at the capped 5'-ends of polyoma virus late region mRNAs: an example of extreme terminal heterogeneity. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Dec 11;9(23):6305–6322. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.23.6305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Farmerie W. G., Folk W. R. Regulation of polyomavirus transcription by large tumor antigen. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Nov;81(22):6919–6923. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.22.6919. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Flavell A. J., Cowie A., Arrand J. R., Kamen R. Localization of three major cappe 5' ends of polyoma virus late mRNA's within a single tetranucleotide sequence in the viral genome. J Virol. 1980 Feb;33(2):902–908. doi: 10.1128/jvi.33.2.902-908.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Flavell A. J., Cowie A., Legon S., Kamen R. Multiple 5' terminal cap structures in late polyoma virus RNA. Cell. 1979 Feb;16(2):357–371. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90012-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Gasser C. S., Simonsen C. C., Schilling J. W., Schimke R. T. Expression of abbreviated mouse dihydrofolate reductase genes in cultured hamster cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Nov;79(21):6522–6526. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.21.6522. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Gruss P., Khoury G. Rescue of a splicing defective mutant by insertion of an heterologous intron. Nature. 1980 Aug 7;286(5773):634–637. doi: 10.1038/286634a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Gruss P., Lai C. J., Dhar R., Khoury G. Splicing as a requirement for biogenesis of functional 16S mRNA of simian virus 40. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Sep;76(9):4317–4321. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.9.4317. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hamer D. H., Smith K. D., Boyer S. H., Leder P. SV40 recombinants carrying rabbit beta-globin gene coding sequences. Cell. 1979 Jul;17(3):725–735. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90279-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Heiser W. C., Eckhart W. Polyoma virus early and late mRNAs in productively infected mouse 3T6 cells. J Virol. 1982 Oct;44(1):175–188. doi: 10.1128/jvi.44.1.175-188.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Hyde-DeRuyscher R., Carmichael G. G. Polyomavirus early-late switch is not regulated at the level of transcription initiation and is associated with changes in RNA processing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Dec;85(23):8993–8997. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.23.8993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kamen R., Jat P., Treisman R., Favaloro J., Folk W. R. 5' termini of polyoma virus early region transcripts synthesized in vivo by wild-type virus and viable deletion mutants. J Mol Biol. 1982 Aug 5;159(2):189–224. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90493-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Kamen R., Lindstrom D. M., Shure H., Old R. W. Virus-specific RNA in cells productively infected or transformed by polyoma virus. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1975;39(Pt 1):187–198. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1974.039.01.025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Kern F. G., Bovi P. D., Basilico C. A reiterated leader sequence is present in polyomavirus late transcripts produced by a transformed rat cell line. J Virol. 1987 Dec;61(12):4055–4059. doi: 10.1128/jvi.61.12.4055-4059.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Lanoix J., Acheson N. H. A rabbit beta-globin polyadenylation signal directs efficient termination of transcription of polyomavirus DNA. EMBO J. 1988 Aug;7(8):2515–2522. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03099.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Lanoix J., Tseng R. W., Acheson N. H. Duplication of functional polyadenylation signals in polyomavirus DNA does not alter efficiency of polyadenylation or transcription termination. J Virol. 1986 Jun;58(3):733–742. doi: 10.1128/jvi.58.3.733-742.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Legon S., Flavell A. J., Cowie A., Kamen R. Amplification in the leader sequence of late polyoma virus mRNAs. Cell. 1979 Feb;16(2):373–388. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90013-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Neuberger M. S., Williams G. T. The intron requirement for immunoglobulin gene expression is dependent upon the promoter. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Jul 25;16(14B):6713–6724. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.14.6713. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Piper P. W. Polyoma virus transcription early during productive infection of mouse 3T6 cells. J Mol Biol. 1979 Jun 25;131(2):399–407. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(79)90083-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Ryu W. S., Mertz J. E. Simian virus 40 late transcripts lacking excisable intervening sequences are defective in both stability in the nucleus and transport to the cytoplasm. J Virol. 1989 Oct;63(10):4386–4394. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.10.4386-4394.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sarkar G., Sommer S. S. Shedding light on PCR contamination. Nature. 1990 Jan 4;343(6253):27–27. doi: 10.1038/343027a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Skarnes W. C., Tessier D. C., Acheson N. H. RNA polymerases stall and/or prematurely terminate nearby both early and late promoters on polyomavirus DNA. J Mol Biol. 1988 Sep 5;203(1):153–171. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(88)90099-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Treisman R. Characterisation of polyoma late mRNA leader sequences by molecular cloning and DNA sequence analysis. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 Nov 11;8(21):4867–4888. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.21.4867. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Treisman R., Kamen R. Structure of polyoma virus late nuclear RNA. J Mol Biol. 1981 May 25;148(3):273–301. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90539-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Tseng R. W., Acheson N. H. Use of a novel S1 nuclease RNA-mapping technique to measure efficiency of transcription termination on polyomavirus DNA. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 May;6(5):1624–1632. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.5.1624. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Virology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES