RNA Structures and Their Role in Selective Genome Packaging
Liqing Ye, Uddhav B. Ambi, Marco Olguin-Nava, Anne-Sophie Gribling-Burrer, Shazeb Ahmad, Patrick Bohn, Melanie Weber, Redmond P. Smyth
Abstract
To generate infectious viral particles, viruses must specifically select their genomic RNA from milieu that contains a complex mixture of cellular or non-genomic viral RNAs. In this review, we focus on the role of viral encoded RNA structures in genome packaging. We first discuss how packaging signals are constructed from local and long-range base pairings within viral genomes, as well as inter-molecular interactions between viral and host RNAs. Then, how genome packaging is regulated by the biophysical properties of RNA. Finally, we examine the impact of RNA packaging signals on viral evolution.
Topics & Concepts
RNAGenomeBiologyComputational biologyNon-coding RNAGeneticsGenePlant Virus Research StudiesViral Infections and Immunology ResearchBacteriophages and microbial interactions