Open AccessEnvironment Determines Fidelity for an RNA Virus Replicase
Author(s) -
Justin S. Pita,
Joachim R. de Miranda,
William L. Schneider,
Marilyn J. Roossinck
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.617
H-Index - 292
eISSN - 1070-6321
pISSN - 0022-538X
DOI - 10.1128/jvi.00587-07
Subject(s) - biology , rna dependent rna polymerase , virology , rna , virus , fidelity , computational biology , genetics , gene , computer science , telecommunications
The rate of insertion and deletion mutations of the replicase ofCucumber mosaic virus (CMV) was determined in planta by using a parasitic satellite RNA (satRNA) as a reporter. We found that the CMV replicase had different fidelity in different environments, with important implications in viral disease evolution. Insertions were very rare events, irrespective of the region of the satRNA genome assayed and independent of the hosts tested. On the other hand, deletion events were more frequent but were restricted to a highly structured region of the reporter. Deletion mutation rates were different for the two hosts tested, although the mutation distribution was not influenced by the hosts. Moreover, hot spots with high mutation rates were identified on the satRNA genome.