Regulation of caulimovirus gene expression and the involvement of cis-acting elements on both viral transcripts. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • In a further analysis of gene regulation of figwort mosaic virus (FMV), a caulimovirus, we studied transient gene expression with modified viral genomes in Nicotiana edwardsonii cell suspension protoplasts. The results demonstrated that the presence of the promoter for the full-length RNA interferes with expression from the separate downstream promoter for gene VI. In addition, expression of gene VI was inhibited by cis-acting sequences within gene VI itself. Both inhibitory effects could be partially relieved by coelectroporation with a plasmid that produces gene VI protein, demonstrating that expression of gene VI is transactivated by its own product. Subsequent expression studies with partially redundant FMV plasmids containing a reporter gene in frame with gene IV showed that efficient transactivation of CAT expression relies on a cis-acting element inside the downstream gene VI. Insertions of a transcriptional terminator upstream of the cis-acting element for premature termination of transcription showed that the cis-acting region is not a DNA element but is active only as a feature of the RNA transcript. We conclude that the cis-acting element, together with the transacting gene VI product, enhances expression of all major genes, including gene VI, from the polycistronic mRNA and the separate mRNA for gene VI.

published proceedings

  • Virology

author list (cited authors)

  • Scholthof, H. B., Wu, F. C., Gowda, S., & Shepherd, R. J.

citation count

  • 17

complete list of authors

  • Scholthof, HB||Wu, FC||Gowda, S||Shepherd, RJ

publication date

  • September 1992