The Coronavirus 3′ UTR pseudoknot is an
RNA
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...
structure found in the
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
genome. Coronaviruses contain 30 kb single-stranded positive-sense RNA
genome
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
s. The
3′ UTR region of these coronavirus genomes contains a conserved ~55 nucleotide
pseudoknot
__NOTOC__
A pseudoknot is a nucleic acid secondary structure containing at least two stem-loop structures in which half of one stem is intercalated between the two halves of another stem. The pseudoknot was first recognized in the turnip yellow ...
structure which is necessary for viral genome replication.
The mechanism of
cis-regulation is unclear, but this element is postulated to function in the plus-strand.
Other RNA families identified in the coronavirus include the
coronavirus frameshifting stimulation element
In molecular biology, the coronavirus frameshifting stimulation element is a conserved stem-loop of RNA found in coronaviruses that can promote ribosomal frameshifting. Such RNA molecules interact with a downstream region to form a pseudoknot s ...
, the
coronavirus 3′ stem-loop II-like motif (s2m) and the
coronavirus packaging signal.
References
External links
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Cis-regulatory RNA elements
Coronaviridae
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