Nucleic Acids Research, Vol 25, Issue 6 1130-1135, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
Z Du and DW Hoffman
NMR methods were used to investigate a series of mutants of the pseudoknot
within the gene 32 messenger RNA of bacteriophage T2, for the purpose of
investigating the range of sequences, stem and loop lengths that can form a
similar pseudoknot structure. This information is of particular relevance
since the T2 pseudoknot has been considered a representative of a large
family of RNA pseudoknots related by a common structural motif, previously
referred to as 'common pseudoknot motif 1' or CPK1. In the work presented
here, a mutated sequence with the potential to form a pseudoknot with a 6
bp stem2 was shown to adopt a pseudoknot structure similar to that of the
wild-type sequence. This result is significant in that it demonstrates that
pseudoknots with 6 bp in stem2 and a single nucleotide in loop1 are indeed
feasible. Mutated sequences with the potential to form pseudoknots with
either 5 or 8 bp in stem2 yielded NMR spectra that could not confirm the
formation of a pseudoknot structure. Replacing the adenosine nucleotide in
loop1 of the wild-type pseudoknot with any one of G, C or U did not
significantly alter the pseudoknot structure. Taken together, the results
of this study provide support for the existence of a family of similarly
structured pseudoknots with two coaxially stacked stems, either 6 or 7 bp
in stem2, and a single nucleotide in loop1. This family includes many of
the pseudoknots predicted to occur downstream of the frameshift or
readthrough sites in a significant number of viral RNAs.
ARTICLES
An NMR and mutational study of the pseudoknot within the gene 32 mRNA of bacteriophage T2: insights into a family of structurally related RNA pseudoknots
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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