Table 1. Sequences of investigated ε mutants and summary of phenotypes.
| Designation | upper stem (left) | loop | upper stem (right) | a)DNA accumulation | a)EPA activity | b)Full-length (FL) or Short (S) DNA | a)pgRNA packaging | a)in vitro priming (dATP) |
| wt | AAGCCUCCAAG | CUGUGC | CUUGGGUGGCUU | +++ | +++ | FL | +++ | +++ |
| A1U | U.......... | ...... | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A1G | G.......... | ...... | ............ | +/− | +/− | FL | +++ | +/− |
| A1C | C.......... | ...... | ............ | ++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A1,2U | UU......... | ...... | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A1,2G | GG......... | ...... | ............ | +/− | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A1,2C | CC......... | ...... | ............ | +/− | +/− | FL | +++ | – |
| U29A | ........... | ...... | ...........A | + | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| U28,29A | ........... | ...... | ..........AA | ++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| rb1UA | U.......... | ...... | ...........A | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| rb1GC | G.......... | ...... | ...........C | ++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| rb1,2UA | UU......... | ...... | ..........AA | ++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| rb1,2GC | GG......... | ...... | ..........CC | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A9U | ........U.. | ...... | ............ | + | + | S | +++ | + |
| A9G | ........G.. | ...... | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A9C | ........C.. | ...... | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A9,10U | ........UU. | ...... | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| A9,10G | ........GG. | ...... | ............ | +/− | +/− | S | +++ | ++ |
| A9,10C | ........CC. | ...... | ............ | +/− | +/− | S | +++ | +++ |
| U13A | ........... | .A.... | ............ | +/− | nd | (FL+) S | nd | ++ |
| U13G | ........... | .G.... | ............ | ++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| U13C | ........... | .C.... | ............ | ++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| U13,15A | ........... | .A.A.. | ............ | +/− | +/− | (FL+) S | + | – |
| U13,15G | ........... | .G.G.. | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| U13,15C | ........... | .C.C.. | ............ | +++ | nd | FL | nd | nd |
| mut | ......GGUU. | ...... | ............ | – | – | none | +/− | – |
a)
Values are categorized relative to wild-type HBV (100%) as follows: +++, 66–100%; ++, 33–65%; +, 25–32%; +/−, 10–24%; −, not detectable; nd, not determined. b) Derived by visual inspection of the autoradiograms shown in Fig. 3.