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A transcription enhancer in the Herpesvirus saimiri genome.
Author(s) -
Schirm S.,
Weber F.,
Schaffner W.,
Fleckenstein B.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03986.x
Subject(s) - biology , enhancer , genetics , genome , transcription (linguistics) , enhancer rnas , computational biology , virology , gene , transcription factor , linguistics , philosophy
Herpesvirus saimiri, an oncogenic agent of New World primates, has a linear double‐stranded DNA genome of approximately 155 kb. To test its genome for the presence of a transcription enhancer, we have mixed randomly fragmented H. saimiri DNA with non‐infectious, linear SV40 DNA lacking the 72‐bp repeat enhancer region (the so‐called SV40 enhancer trap) and co‐transfected this DNA mixture into monkey CV‐1 cells. Viable SV40‐like viruses were generated by intracellular ligation/repair processes with short H. saimiri DNA fragments. One recombinant, SVHS‐2, had integrated a 377‐bp enhancer segment from the righthand region of the H. saimiri genome, 7 kb upstream of DNA sequences encoding an immediate‐early mRNA. This enhancer sequence is contained within the non‐repetitive portions of the viral genome known to be preserved episomally in all lymphoid tumor cell lines. Further recombinant viruses (SVHS‐14, SVHS‐7, and SVHS‐8) essentially contain subsets of the 377‐bp insert. Unlike in the previous enhancer trap experiments, where heterologous enhancers were incorporated without any sequence alterations, SVHS‐14 and SVHS‐7 have suffered short internal deletions of a very similar segment of the H. saimiri insert. This renders the enhancer more active, implying that the deleted segment, while it may have a role in the herpesvirus infection cycle, exerts a negative effect within the isolated enhancer.