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W Fiers

Publications and source records attributed to W Fiers.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Nucleotide sequence of the simian virus 40 HindII + III restriction fragment A (second part of the T antigen gene).

The nucleotide sequence of the second part of the simian virus 40 DNA HindII + III restriction fragment A is presented. The sequence extends from map position 0.533 to 0.424 and together with the first part of Hind-A [Volckaert et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 2160--2164 (1978)] completes the total hind-A sequence, comprising 1169 base pairs. The second half of Hind-A includes the region corresponding to the second splicing boundary common to small tumor antigen (small-t) and large tumor antigen (large-T) mRNA and it contains coding information for an internal portion of large-T antigen. Two similar secondary structures of reasonable thermodynamic stability can be proposed for the nucleotide sequence of the pre-mRNA corresponding to the region reported here. Their possible relevance to the splicing of the SV40 early mRNAs is discussed. The deduced amino acid sequence is 188 residues long and contains a Lys-Lys-Lys-Arg-Lys-stretch which may be involved in the DNA binding capacity of large-T. A presumptive phosphorylation site is also present.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1980

Nucleotide sequence of the simian virus 40 HindII + III restriction fragment I (fourth part of the T antigen gene).

The HindII + III restriction fragment I (Hind-I) from simian virus 40 DNA represents 4.96% of the genome and maps in the early transcription region. Hind-I is an internal segment of the A gene and its information is expressed as part of the early 19-S mRNA, which codes for T antigen. We report here the nucleotide sequence of the 259-base-pair Hind-I fragment. The sequence was determined and confirmed by RNA and DNA sequencing methods: by analysis of oligonucleotides resulting from T1 and pancreatic RNase digestion of labeled RNA transcribed from SV40 DNA with Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, by partial degradation of RNA transcripts with snake venom phosphodiesterase, and by base-specific chemical degradation of 5'-end-labeled subfragments of Hind-I according to the procedure of Maxam and Gilbert. Multiple triplets corresponding to termination codons occur in two of the three reading frames of the DNA strand that has the same polarity as early mRNA. The open reading frame connects in phase with the one of the Hind fragments flanking Hind-I, and the amino acid sequence specified by Hind-I lies in the middle part of the large-T antigen. Some features of the primary nucleotide sequence and of early transcription are discussed.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed1980

Nucleotide sequence of the Hind-I-proximal part of simian virus 40 HindII + III restriction fragment B (fifth part of the T antigen gene).

The nucleotide sequence of the simian virus 40 DNA segment that lies between the HindIII restriction endonuclease cleavage site at map position 0.324 and the AtuI cleavage site at 0.261 has been determined by the base-specific partial chemical degradation procedure of Maxam and Gilbert. This region comprises 335 base pairs and represents 6.4% of the total SV40 genome and 41% of the restriction fragment Hind-B. It connects in the clockwise direction to the restriction fragment Hind-I (described in the preceding paper). Hind-B is situated in the second half of the early transcription region of the SV40 genome and encodes information (including the termination signal) for the early protein large-T antigen. in the part of Hind-B described here, the DNA strand that has the same polarity as early 19-S mRNA defines only one open reading frame for translation; the other two are blocked by multiple triplets corresponding to termination codons. The open reading frame is part of one that runs throughout much of the early region: from the second splicing boundary of the large-T gene (position 0.534) to the information for the large-T stop signal (position 0.174) near the Hind-B/Hind-G junction, and which together with the non-contiguous DNA segment from position 0.65 (site of the information for the large-T start signal) to 0.69 (the first splicing boundary) codes for the entire large-T antigen.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed1980

Nucleotide sequence of simian virus 40 DNA: structure of the middle segment of the HindII + III restriction fragment B (sixth part of the T antigen gene) and codon usage.

We report here the nucleotide sequence of the simian virus 40 DNA region that lies between the EcoRII restriction endonuclease cleavage sites at map positions 0.214 and 0.281. The sequence was determined by partial chemical degradation of terminally labeled DNA fragments according to the procedure of Maxam and Gilbert. This region represents 6.7% of the SV40 genome and is located in the middle of HindII + III restriction fragment B. It is expressed as part of the early 19-S messenger RNA, which codes for the large-T antigen protein. Only one open reading frame for translation can be deduced from the message strand of the DNA and this reading frame connects in phase with the one of both neighboring fragments. This publication is the last in a series of papers about the T-antigen gene, and several properties of this gene and its product are discussed. The non-randomness of codon usage is similar to that previously discussed for the late part of the genome. Moreover, it appears that the choice of a third letter can be determined by the nature of the following codon; some codons which start with a pyrimidine are almost never preceded by an adenosine and some ANN-type codons are almost never preceded by a guanosine.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1980

Characterization of the 5'-terminal cap structures of early simian virus 40 mRNA.

Early simian virus 40-specific mRNA was isolated from lytically infected and stably transformed cells and analyzed with respect to the 5'-terminal cap content. An analogous diversity of capped structures was found in both RNA preparations, indicating that 5'-terminal heterogeneity is not limited to late simian virus 40 RNA transcription but concerns a more general feature. Correlation of our data with previously published results of characterization of early mRNA's by reverse transcription allowed a tentative localization of the major 5' termini on the viral genome.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Crystallization of bacteriophage MS2.

Crystals of bacteriophage MS2 have been obtained by slowly cooling a 1% virus solution from 23 degrees C to 0 degrees C in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) 6000. The crystals were colorless, needle-like, anisotropic and very fragile. Electron microscopic observation of the crystals revealed a two-dimensional lattice of particles with RNA phage morphology and dimensions. Preliminary X-ray examination of the crystals confirmed their viral nature.

Coliphages↗
PubMed1979

Secondary structure of the 5' end of bacteriophage MS2 RNA Methoxyamine and kethoxal modification.

To refine the secondary structure model of the 5' end of the bacteriophage MS2 genome, 32P-labeled MS2 RNA was partially digested with T1 RNase or with Cm-RNase and the 5'-end fragment was isolated, renatured and submitted to treatment with methoxyamine or kethoxal. The resulting modified RNA was digested with T1 RNase and the products were separated by minifingerprinting. Methoxyamine-induced modification of exposed cytidines was detected by differential mobility of modified oligonucleotides, while kethoxal-induced alteration of exposed guanosines was monitored by resistance to T1 ribonuclease digestion. The positions of the modified residues are discussed in terms of an improved secondary structure model proposed for the 5' end of the viral RNA. The structure itself is discussed in relation to sequence conservation and biological function.

Aldehydes↗
PubMed1979

Characterization of the major altered leader sequence of late mRNA induced by SV40 deletion mutant d1-1811.

d1-1811 is a viable SV40 mutant with a 40 base pair deletion that includes the major wild-type capping site of late mRNA at map position 0.72. The late viral mRNAs induced by d1-1811 have now been further characterized by inversed S1-mapping analysis. The S1-resistant, 32P-labeled RNA fragments derived from the leader region were examined by fingerprinting and by analysis of RNase T2-generated 5'-terminal cap structures. The results show that most if not all of the mutant leader fragments analyzed have their 5' terminus to the left of the d1-1811 deletion site, i.e., closer to the origin of DNA replication. The major altered leader fragment is a continuous transcript from the DNA in the region 0.716 to 0.761 map unit and its 5' terminus has been precisely mapped at nucleotide L290. The observation that the cap structure of the major altered leader is only a minor cap species in wild-type late RNA suggests regulation in the use of different capping sites in SV40.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1979

On codon usage.

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Codon↗
PubMed1979

Asymmetric linker molecules for recombinant DNA constructions.

Asymmetric EcoRI DNA linkers consisting of an AATTC(A)7 dodecamer and a complementary G(T)7 octamer were synthesized. Ligation of such linkers to DNA fragments obviates the need for EcoRI digestion prior to cloning in EcoRI-cleaved vectors.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1979

Nucleotide sequence of the Hind-C fragment of simian virus 40 DNA. Comparison of the 5'-untranslated region of wild-type virus and of some deletion Mutants.

We report here the nucleotide sequence of the wild-type simian virus 40 (strain 776) restriction fragment Hind-C-P1 DNA and of the homologous region of various mutant DNAs which lack part of this fragment. During this work, we detected between EcoRII fragments N and G an additional, 17-base-pair EcoRII fragment, fragment P, which had previously been overlooked. Also, an additional dTpdG dinucleotide at residues L 339--340 was observed by sequence analysis of the DNA minus (E) strand; the presence of this dinucleotide was masked on sequencing patterns of the plus strand due to the persistence (during gel electrophoresis) of some secondary structures in the strand's 5'-terminal region. These nucleotide additions raise the total length of SV40 DNA to 5243 base pairs. The longest tandemly repeated segment in SV40 DNA now extends over 72 base pairs. SV40 deletion mutants dl 893 and dl 894 and SV40 strains Rh 911 and 1801 all lack an identical 72-base-pair-long DNA segment in the Hind-C region. This deletion corresponds precisely to one of the two aforementioned large tandemly repeated sequences. Mutant dl 895 lacks 66 base pairs, 63 of which are part of the former repetition. All these mutants, except dl 895, very probably were generated by an intramolecular, homologous recombination event. The 40-base-pair deletion in mutant dl 1811 includes the major capping site of SV40 late RNA. dl 1812 lacks only three base pairs, which are part of the overlapping HhaI and HpaII restriction sites at position 0.725--0.726.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1979

Nucleotide sequence analysis of two simian virus 40 mutants with deletions in the late region of the genome.

Two mutants of simian virus 40, dl-1261 and dl-1262, have deletions that map between coordinated 0.90 and 0.95 (Cole et al., J. Virol 24:277--294, 1977). Both affect the structure of the two minor proteins VP2 and VP3. The precise location and size of the deletions have now been determined by nucleotide sequence analysis. Mutant dl-1261 is deleted of 54 base pairs, is temperature sensitive for the protein defined by the D complementation group, and promotes the synthesis of shorter VP2 and VP3 polypeptides. Mutant dl-1262 is viable irrespective of temperature and has a deletion of 36 base pairs, 23 of which overlap the deletion in dl-1261. Since these mutants produce normal VP1, the deleted regions probably have no function in the splicing of precursor RNA to the VP1 mRNA.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1979

Nucleotide sequence deletions within the coding region for small-t antigen of simian virus 40.

Simian virus 40 early mutants with deletions mapping in the 0.53-0.60 region have been sequenced by the Maxam and Gilbert approach. All these deletions effect the small-t gene. The size of the shortened small-t-related polypeptides produced by several of the mutants has been compared with the molecular weight as deduced from the nucleotide sequence. There was good agreement for the mutants dl890, dl891, and dl2102. For dl2121 and dl2122 the small-t-related protein was considerably larger than expected. It is possible to explain this result on the basis of the nucleotide sequence: the normal splicing event of the small-t mRNA still occurs, but as the deletion shifts the reading frame, translation of the small-t-related polypeptide continues beyond the small-t splice, but in a different reading frame than large-T. Mutants dl883, dl884, and dl2112 have lost one of the small-t splicing boundaries, and no (or minute amonts of) small-t-related protein has been observed in mutant-infected cells. The possible relationship between splicing and transport of polyadenylic acid-containing mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in vertebrae cells is discussed.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed1979

Nucleotide sequence analysis of two simian virus 40 mutants with deletions in the region coding for the carboxyl terminus of the T antigen.

Nucleotide sequence analysis of two simian virus 40 early mutants dl1263 and dl1265, which lack a DNA segment around map positions 0.21 and 0.18, respectively (C. Cole, T. Landers, S. Goff, S. MAnteuil-Brutlag, and P. Berg, J. Virol. 24:277--294, 1977), revealed in-phase deletions of 33 nucleotide pairs for dl1263 and 39 nucleotide paris for dl1265. The 33-base-pair deletion in dl1263 does not correspond to an apparent shortening by 6,000 daltons observed for the mutant T antigen. In dl1265 the normal termination signal as well as most of the proline-rich terminal tryptic peptide has been removed, and the carboxyl terminus of the mutant T antigen is a series of three cysteine residues.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed1979

Heterogeneity of the 5' terminus of late mRNA induced by a viable simian virus 40 deletion mutant.

d1-1811 is a viable simian virus 40 deletion mutant which lacks the DNA region corresponding to the major capping site of the late viral RNA. The exact size of the deletion (40 base pairs) was determined by comparison of the mutant DNA sequence with the wild-type simian virus 40 (strain 776) DNA sequence. Although d1-1811 forms somewhat smaller plaques, the amount of viral RNA late after infection was not significantly reduced compared with that of the wild type. Virus-specific, polyadenylate-containing, 32P-labeled late RNA was purified from the cytoplasm and enzymatically degraded to characterize the 5' terminus. The cap-containing oligonucleotides were isolated, and their structures were analyzed by further digestion. Instead of a single cap structure, we found a variety of capped 5' termini, with adenosine caps occurring much more frequently than guanosine caps. Nevertheless, there was a remarkable homology between both types of terminal sequences. Conceivably, the minor cap population present in wild-type simian virus 40 late mRNA may correspond to the collection of capped termini identified in the d1-1811 late mRNA . Cellular cytoplasmic RNA shows a similar pattern of cap structures, but the relative abundance is quite different.

Base Sequence↗