In the past few years, cytoplasmic processing bodies (P-Bodies) have been identified in eukaryotic cells. P-bodies have roles in translational repression, mRNA storage, mRNA decay and are conserved cytoplasmic aggregations of non-translating mRNAs in conjunction with translation repression and mRNA degradation factors. In this work, I, in collaboration with others provide evidence for a new biological role for P-bodies in viral life cycles. This work can be summarized thus:In a collaborative effort, I have identified connections between retrovirallike transposon life cycles and P-bodies. For example, genetic evidence in yeast indicates that key proteins within P-bodies are required for the life cycles of the Ty1 and Ty3 retrotransposons. Moreover, Ty3 genomic RNA (gRNA) as well as viral structural proteins accumulate in P-bodies, suggesting that P-bodies may serve as sites of viral assembly.Second, I have shown, with assistance of collaborators, that the positivestrand RNA virus, Brome Mosaic Virus (BMV) gRNA accumulates in P-bodies Moreover, viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) colocalizes with and co-immunoprecipitates with the P-body protein Lsm1p, suggesting that P-bodies may participate in viral replication. Remarkably, the accumulation BMV gRNA in P-bodies is dependent on cis-elements that have been demonstrated to play critical roles in viral RNA replication.The identification of P-bodies as sites of accumulation of viral gRNA and viral proteins of both retro-virus like elements and positive-stranded RNA viruses, expands the list of important biological roles played by P-bodies. Since P-body proteins and structure are highly conserved, these findings imply that Pbodies will be important for other RNA viruses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/194209 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Beckham, Carla Jolene |
| Contributors | Parker, Roy R., Parker, Roy R., Wilson, Jean, Dieckmann, Carol, Jorgensen, Richard, Eugene Gerner |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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