scholarly journals Taxonomy of Phleboviruses, Emphasizing Those That Are Sandfly-Borne

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 918
Author(s):  
Charles H. Calisher ◽  
Mattia Calzolari

Sandfly-borne phleboviruses (phylum Negarnavaricota, realm Riboviria, kingdom Orthornavirae, genus Phlebovirus) comprise three genome segments of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and which encode an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which they use to transcribe the viral RNA genome into messenger RNA and to replicate the genome. At least some of these viruses cause mild 3-day fevers in humans but some also have been associated with more severe illnesses in humans. The 67 recognized phleboviruses are listed here in a table composed by the authors from International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses reports as well as the scientific literature.

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weike Li ◽  
Ryan H. Gumpper ◽  
Yusuf Uddin ◽  
Ingeborg Schmidt-Krey ◽  
Ming Luo

ABSTRACTDuring viral RNA synthesis by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (vRdRp) of vesicular stomatitis virus, the sequestered RNA genome must be released from the nucleocapsid in order to serve as the template. Unveiling the sequestered RNA by interactions of vRdRp proteins, the large subunit (L) and the phosphoprotein (P), with the nucleocapsid protein (N) must not disrupt the nucleocapsid assembly. We noticed that a flexible structural motif composed of an α-helix and a loop in the N protein may act as the access gate to the sequestered RNA. This suggests that local conformational changes in this structural motif may be induced by interactions with the polymerase to unveil the sequestered RNA, without disrupting the nucleocapsid assembly. Mutations of several residues in this structural motif—Glu169, Phe171, and Leu174—to Ala resulted in loss of viral RNA synthesis in a minigenome assay. After implementing these mutations in the viral genome, mutant viruses were recovered by reverse genetics and serial passages. Sequencing the genomes of the mutant viruses revealed that compensatory mutations in L, P, and N were required to restore the viral viability. Corresponding mutations were introduced in L, P, and N, and their complementarity to the N mutations was confirmed by the minigenome assay. Introduction of the corresponding mutations is also sufficient to rescue the mutant viruses. These results suggested that the interplay of the N structural motif with the L protein may play a role in accessing the nucleotide template without disrupting the overall structure of the nucleocapsid.IMPORTANCEDuring viral RNA synthesis of a negative-strand RNA virus, the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (vRdRp) must gain access to the sequestered RNA in the nucleocapsid to use it as the template, but at the same time may not disrupt the nucleocapsid assembly. Our structural and mutagenesis studies showed that a flexible structural motif acts as a potential access gate to the sequestered RNA and plays an essential role in viral RNA synthesis. Interactions of this structural motif within the vRdRp may be required for unveiling the sequestered RNA. This mechanism of action allows the sequestered RNA to be released locally without disrupting the overall structure of the nucleocapsid. Since this flexible structural motif is present in the N proteins of many NSVs, release of the sequestered RNA genome by local conformational changes in the N protein may be a general mechanism in NSV viral RNA synthesis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pramod R. Bhatt ◽  
Alain Scaiola ◽  
Gary Loughran ◽  
Marc Leibundgut ◽  
Annika Kratzel ◽  
...  

AbstractProgrammed ribosomal frameshifting is the key event during translation of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome allowing synthesis of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and downstream viral proteins. Here we present the cryo-EM structure of the mammalian ribosome in the process of translating viral RNA paused in a conformation primed for frameshifting. We observe that the viral RNA adopts a pseudoknot structure lodged at the mRNA entry channel of the ribosome to generate tension in the mRNA that leads to frameshifting. The nascent viral polyprotein that is being synthesized by the ribosome paused at the frameshifting site forms distinct interactions with the ribosomal polypeptide exit tunnel. We use biochemical experiments to validate our structural observations and to reveal mechanistic and regulatory features that influence the frameshifting efficiency. Finally, a compound previously shown to reduce frameshifting is able to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in infected cells, establishing coronavirus frameshifting as target for antiviral intervention.


Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. eabf3546
Author(s):  
Pramod R. Bhatt ◽  
Alain Scaiola ◽  
Gary Loughran ◽  
Marc Leibundgut ◽  
Annika Kratzel ◽  
...  

Programmed ribosomal frameshifting is a key event during translation of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome allowing synthesis of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and downstream proteins. Here we present the cryo-electron microscopy structure of a translating mammalian ribosome primed for frameshifting on the viral RNA. The viral RNA adopts a pseudoknot structure that lodges at the entry to the ribosomal mRNA channel to generate tension in the mRNA and promote frameshifting, whereas the nascent viral polyprotein forms distinct interactions with the ribosomal tunnel. Biochemical experiments validate the structural observations and reveal mechanistic and regulatory features that influence frameshifting efficiency. Finally, we compare compounds previously shown to reduce frameshifting with respect to their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication, establishing coronavirus frameshifting as a target for antiviral intervention.


2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidhi Kaushik ◽  
Chandru Subramani ◽  
Saumya Anang ◽  
Rajagopalan Muthumohan ◽  
Shalimar ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes an acute, self-limiting hepatitis in healthy individuals and leads to chronic disease in immunocompromised individuals. HEV infection in pregnant women results in a more severe outcome, with the mortality rate going up to 30%. Though the virus usually causes sporadic infection, epidemics have been reported in developing and resource-starved countries. No specific antiviral exists against HEV. A combination of interferon and ribavirin therapy has been used to control the disease with some success. Zinc is an essential micronutrient that plays crucial roles in multiple cellular processes. Zinc salts are known to be effective in reducing infections caused by few viruses. Here, we investigated the effect of zinc salts on HEV replication. In a human hepatoma cell (Huh7) culture model, zinc salts inhibited the replication of genotype 1 (g-1) and g-3 HEV replicons and g-1 HEV infectious genomic RNA in a dose-dependent manner. Analysis of a replication-defective mutant of g-1 HEV genomic RNA under similar conditions ruled out the possibility of zinc salts acting on replication-independent processes. An ORF4-Huh7 cell line-based infection model of g-1 HEV further confirmed the above observations. Zinc salts did not show any effect on the entry of g-1 HEV into the host cell. Furthermore, our data reveal that zinc salts directly inhibit the activity of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), leading to inhibition of viral replication. Taken together, these studies unravel the ability of zinc salts in inhibiting HEV replication, suggesting their possible therapeutic value in controlling HEV infection. IMPORTANCE Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a public health concern in resource-starved countries due to frequent outbreaks. It is also emerging as a health concern in developed countries owing to its ability to cause acute and chronic infection in organ transplant and immunocompromised individuals. Although antivirals such as ribavirin have been used to treat HEV cases, there are known side effects and limitations of such therapy. Our discovery of the ability of zinc salts to block HEV replication by virtue of their ability to inhibit the activity of viral RdRp is important because these findings pave the way to test the efficacy of zinc supplementation therapy in HEV-infected patients. Since zinc supplementation therapy is known to be safe in healthy individuals and since high-dose zinc is used in the treatment of Wilson's disease, it may be possible to control HEV-associated health problems following a similar treatment regimen.


1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Stevenson Stawicki ◽  
C. Cheng Kao

ABSTRACT RNA synthesis during viral replication requires specific recognition of RNA promoters by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Four nucleotides (−17, −14, −13, and −11) within the brome mosaic virus (BMV) subgenomic core promoter are required for RNA synthesis by the BMV RdRp (R. W. Siegel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:11238–11243, 1997). The spatial requirements for these four nucleotides and the initiation (+1) cytidylate were examined in RNAs containing nucleotide insertions and deletions within the BMV subgenomic core promoter. Spatial perturbations between nucleotides −17 and −11 resulted in decreased RNA synthesis in vitro. However, synthesis was still dependent on the key nucleotides identified in the wild-type core promoter and the initiation cytidylate. In contrast, changes between nucleotides −11 and +1 had a less severe effect on RNA synthesis but resulted in RNA products initiated at alternative locations in addition to the +1 cytidylate. The results suggest a degree of flexibility in the recognition of the subgenomic promoter by the BMV RdRp and are compared with functional regions in other DNA and RNA promoters.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (13) ◽  
pp. 2360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia de Castro ◽  
Cristina Ferrer-Orta ◽  
Alberto Mills ◽  
Gloria Fernández-Cureses ◽  
Federico Gago ◽  
...  

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an RNA virus belonging to the Picornaviridae family that contains three small viral proteins (VPgs), named VPg1, VPg2 and VPg3, linked to the 5′-end of the viral genome. These VPg proteins act as primers for RNA replication, which is initiated by the consecutive binding of two UMP molecules to the hydroxyl group of Tyr3 in VPg. This process, termed uridylylation, is catalyzed by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase named 3Dpol. 5-Fluorouridine triphosphate (FUTP) is a potent competitive inhibitor of VPg uridylylation. Peptide analysis showed FUMP covalently linked to the Tyr3 of VPg. This fluorouridylylation prevents further incorporation of the second UMP residue. The molecular basis of how the incorporated FUMP blocks the incorporation of the second UMP is still unknown. To investigate the mechanism of inhibition of VPg uridylylation by FUMP, we have prepared a simplified 15-mer model of VPg1 containing FUMP and studied its x-ray crystal structure in complex with 3Dpol. Unfortunately, the fluorouridylylated VPg1 was disordered and not visible in the electron density maps; however, the structure of 3Dpol in the presence of VPg1-FUMP showed an 8 Å movement of the β9-α11 loop of the polymerase towards the active site cavity relative to the complex of 3Dpol with VPg1-UMP. The conformational rearrangement of this loop preceding the 3Dpol B motif seems to block the access of the template nucleotide to the catalytic cavity. This result may be useful in the design of new antivirals against not only FMDV but also other picornaviruses, since all members of this family require the uridylylation of their VPg proteins to initiate the viral RNA synthesis.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 2818-2824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Yen Huang ◽  
Yih-Leh Huang ◽  
Menghsiao Meng ◽  
Yau-Heiu Hsu ◽  
Ching-Hsiu Tsai

ABSTRACT The 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of bamboo mosaic potexvirus (BaMV) genomic RNA was found to fold into a series of stem-loop structures including a pseudoknot structure. These structures were demonstrated to be important for viral RNA replication and were believed to be recognized by the replicase (C.-P. Cheng and C.-H. Tsai, J. Mol. Biol. 288:555–565, 1999). Electrophoretic mobility shift and competition assays have now been used to demonstrate that theEscherichia coli-expressed RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain (Δ893) derived from BaMV open reading frame 1 could specifically bind to the 3′ UTR of BaMV RNA. No competition was observed when bovine liver tRNAs or poly(I)(C) double-stranded homopolymers were used as competitors, and the cucumber mosaic virus 3′ UTR was a less efficient competitor. Competition analysis with different regions of the BaMV 3′ UTR showed that Δ893 binds to at least two independent RNA binding sites, stem-loop D and the poly(A) tail. Footprinting analysis revealed that Δ893 could protect the sequences at loop D containing the potexviral conserved hexamer motif and part of the stem of domain D from chemical cleavage.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. e1004199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Chin Liu ◽  
Rei-Lin Kuo ◽  
Jing-Yi Lin ◽  
Peng-Nien Huang ◽  
Yi Huang ◽  
...  

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