Multiple 5′ terminal cap structures in late polyoma virus RNA

Abstract

Nuclear and cytoplasmic polyoma virus-specific RNA extracted from 32P-labeled mouse embryo cells late during productive viral infection was analyzed for the presence of 5′ terminal capped structures by complete digestion with RNAases T1, T2 and A, followed by two-dimensional electrophoretic fractionation. Seven major cap I structures (m 7 GpppN m 1pN 2p) were observed in both cases. These termini were further characterized by digestion with penicillium nuclease P1, followed by product analysis in a variety of alternative separate systems. Each structure had an individual combination of N 1 and N 2 nucleotides, where N 1 was always a purine nucleotide but N 2 was any nucleotide subject to the single exception that m 7GpppGmpCp is found only in low yield. Four different cap II derivatives (m 7GpppN m 1pN m 2pN 3p) of four of the cap I structures were also detected in cytoplasmic RNA. None of the termini described derived from contaminating host cell RNA. All of these cap structures mapped on the polyoma viral DNA genome between 66 and 71 map units, a region distant from the 5′ end of the bodies of two of the three late polyoma mRNAs. All the polyoma virus-specific cap structures, however, were present in each of the purified 16S, 18S and 19S late mRNAs. These data suggest that families of capped leader sequences of varying sizes are attached to the main body of each late polyoma mRNA species by a splicing mechanism.