Less repair of pyrimidine dimers and single-strand breaks in genes by scid cells.

Severe combined immunodeficient (Scid) mice have a mutation in the catalytic subunit of the DNA binding protein kinase that is involved in repair of double-strand breaks in DNA. To determine if the protein also influences repair of single-strand breaks, we examined the ability of Scid cells to repair lesions introduced by ultraviolet light and gamma-ray irradiation. DNA repair was measured both in total genomic DNA and in specific genes from murine Scid and wildtype fibroblast cell lines. The removal of pyrimidine dimers and repair of strand breaks in genes was measured using quantitative Southern blot analyses. After ultraviolet irradiation, there was no significant difference in the repair of photoproducts in bulk DNA between Scid and wildtype cells, as measured by cellular survival and unscheduled DNA synthesis. However, deficient repair was evident in genes, where Scid cells had 25-50% less repair in the c-myc and dihydrofolate reductase genes. After gamma-irradiation, Scid fibroblasts had 20-35% less repair of DNA breaks in immunoglobulin kappa and heavy constant genes than wildtype cells. The data suggest that intact DNA-PK enzyme is needed for the efficient operation of cellular repair of pyrimidine dimers and single-strand breaks in genes, as well as in its established role in rejoining double-strand breaks.

The complete nucleotide sequence of apple mosaic virus RNA-3.

The complete nucleotide sequence of apple mosaic ilarvirus (ApMV) RNA-3 has been determined from cloned viral cDNAs. The 5' terminus of RNA-3 was determined by direct RNA sequencing, while the 3' end was determined by polyadenylation of genomic RNA and sub-cloning using oligo dT. ApMV RNA-3 is 2056 bases in length and encodes at least two open reading frames. It is similar in size and genome organization to the RNA-3 of other members of the Bromoviridae, which includes ilarviruses. The CP gene is in the 3' half of the molecule, and another large open reading frame is upstream of the CP gene and can potentially encode a protein of 32,400 daltons. This peptide is the same size and shows limited sequence homology to an open reading frame located at the 5' end of RNA 3 in tobacco streak and prune dwarf ilarviruses and alfalfa mosaic virus, which is postulated to be the viral movement protein. The nucleic acid sequence was not homologous to tobacco streak virus, prune dwarf virus, alfalfa mosaic virus or other members of the Bromoviridae. The 5'-non-coding region of ApMV RNA-3 contains a 15 base palindromic sequence which encloses a sequence resembling the ICR-2 regions of eukaryotic tRNA gene promoters.

The nucleotide sequence of apple mosaic virus coat protein gene has no similarity with other Bromoviridae coat protein genes.

A double-stranded cDNA was synthesized from in vitro polyadenylated apple mosaic virus (ApMV) RNA 3 using oligo(dT) and sequence-specific primers, and was cloned into plasmid vectors. A set of overlapping cDNA clones was used to determine the nucleotide sequence of RNA 4. ApMV RNA 4 was found to contain an open reading frame (ORF) of 666 nucleotides, which was flanked by 5' and 3' non-translated sequences of 55 and 264 nucleotides, respectively. The ORF encoding the coat protein was identified by comparing the predicted amino acid sequence with that obtained from direct protein microsequencing of the native viral coat protein. The ORF encodes a protein with an M(r) of 25,056. The nucleotide sequence of the ApMV coat protein gene showed no similarity to those of alfalfa mosaic virus, tobacco streak virus (TSV), brome mosaic virus or cucumber mosaic virus. The predicted amino acid sequence of the amino-terminal region of the ApMV coat protein is basic, rich in cysteine residues and may contain a zinc finger motif similar to that found in TSV.