Characterization of Novel Transcripts in Pseudorabies Virus
Dóra Tombácz,
Zsolt Csabai,
Péter Oláh,
Zoltán Havelda,
Donald Sharon,
Michael Snyder,
Zsolt Boldogkői
Affiliations
Dóra Tombácz
Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi B. u. 4., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
Zsolt Csabai
Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi B. u. 4., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
Péter Oláh
Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi B. u. 4., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
Zoltán Havelda
Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Institute for Plant Biotechnology, Plant Developmental Biology Group, Szent-Györgyi A. u. 4, Gödöllő H-2100, Hungary
Donald Sharon
Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Dr., Stanford, CA 94305-5120, USA
Michael Snyder
Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Dr., Stanford, CA 94305-5120, USA
Zsolt Boldogkői
Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi B. u. 4., Szeged H-6720, Hungary
In this study we identified two 3′-coterminal RNA molecules in the pseudorabies virus. The highly abundant short transcript (CTO-S) proved to be encoded between the ul21 and ul22 genes in close vicinity of the replication origin (OriL) of the virus. The less abundant long RNA molecule (CTO-L) is a transcriptional readthrough product of the ul21 gene and overlaps OriL. These polyadenylated RNAs were characterized by ascertaining their nucleotide sequences with the Illumina HiScanSQ and Pacific Biosciences Real-Time (PacBio RSII) sequencing platforms and by analyzing their transcription kinetics through use of multi-time-point Real-Time RT-PCR and the PacBio RSII system. It emerged that transcription of the CTOs is fully dependent on the viral transactivator protein IE180 and CTO-S is not a microRNA precursor. We propose an interaction between the transcription and replication machineries at this genomic location, which might play an important role in the regulation of DNA synthesis.
