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. 1978 Mar;75(3):1086–1090. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.3.1086

“Pretranscriptional capping” in the biosynthesis of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus mRNA

Yasuhiro Furuichi 1
PMCID: PMC411413  PMID: 349555

Abstract

The in vitro synthesis of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) mRNA was previously shown to be dependent upon the presence of the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet). We now find that the competitive inhibitor of methylation, S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy), also stimulates CPV mRNA synthesis efficiently, resulting in the synthesis of viral mRNAs containing 5′-terminal GpppA and ppA, rather than m7GpppAm as observed with Adomet. In addition to AdoHcy, other AdoMet analogues, including S-adenosylethionine and adenosine, also stimulate CPV mRNA synthesis but to a smaller extent than does AdoHcy or AdoMet. In order to study the relationship between cap formation and mRNA synthesis, nucleoside triphosphates were replaced in the RNA-synthesizing reaction mixture (containing AdoMet) by the corresponding β,γ-imido analogues, which are resistant to nucleotide phosphohydrolase, an enzyme involved in cap formation. Although mRNA synthesis occurred in the presence of UMP-pNHp or GMP-pNHp, none was observed when AMP-pNHp was substituted for ATP. Because the ATP molecule that becomes the 5′-terminal nucleotide of CPV mRNA must be cleaved at the β-γ position during cap formation, the results suggest that, in this viral transcription system, cap formation is prerequisite to mRNA synthesis—i.e., a “pretranscriptional” event.

Keywords: S-adenosylmethionine, mRNA methylation, initiation of transcription, virus gene expression

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Selected References

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

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