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. 1994 Jun;68(6):4092–4096. doi: 10.1128/jvi.68.6.4092-4096.1994

The influenza virus panhandle is involved in the initiation of transcription.

E Fodor 1, D C Pritlove 1, G G Brownlee 1
PMCID: PMC236924  PMID: 8189550

Abstract

The role of the influenza A virus panhandle structure formed from the 3'- and 5'-terminal nucleotides of virion RNA segments was studied in both an RNA polymerase binding assay and an in vitro transcription assay. Despite recent indications that promoter activity is simply a function of the 3'-terminal sequence of virion RNA, our results show that both 3'- and 5'-terminal sequences are involved in the initiation of transcription. We propose a new model for the initiation of transcription which has implications for the mechanisms by which influenza virus transcription, replication, and polyadenylation may be regulated in the infected cell.

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Selected References

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