JBC, Vol. 253, Issue 12, 4120-4127, Jun, 1978
Structural relationships of low molecular weight viral RNAs synthesized by RNA polymerase III in nuclei from adenovirus 2-infected cells
B. Harris and R. G. Roeder
Previous studies have shown that endogenous class III RNA polymerase(s) in
nuclei from adenovirus 2-infected cells synthesize virus-coded RNA species
which are approximately 200 (V200), 156 (V156), and 140 (V140) nucleotides
in length (Weinmann, R., Brendler, T. G., Raskas, H.J., and Roeder, R. G.
(1976) Cell 7, 557-566). The V156 nuclear RNA is identical in sequence to
the major virus-associated RNA (VA RNA1 or 5.5 S RNA) synthesized in intact
cells (Ohe, K., and Weissman, S. M. (1971) J. Biol. Chem. 246, 6991-7009).
The V140 RNA contains several components, one of which appears identical to
a minor virus-associated RNA (VA RNAII) which is synthesized in infected
cells (Mathews), M. B. (1975) Cell 6, 223-229). Thus transcription of the
VA RNAI and VA RNAII genes in vitro accurately reflects the in vivo
transcription of these genes. The V200 RNA contains all the nucleotide
sequences found in V156 RNA plus an additional 38 to 40 nucleotides on the
3' terminus. Transcription of the gene encoding this RNA species terminates
within a stretch of 6 deoxythymidylic acid residues which are located 38
nucleotides beyond the predicted termination site for VA RNAI and which are
preceded by a GC-rich sequence of nucleotides. These data suggest either
that the V200 RNA is a precursor to the VA RNAI or that the RNA polymerase
III occasionally reads-through the presumptive VA RNAI gene termination
signal and stops at a potentially stronger downstream termination site.