Towards identification of cis-acting elements involved in the replication of enterovirus and rhinovirus RNAs: a proposal for the existence of tRNA-like terminal structures.

On the basis of a comparative analysis of published sequences, models for the secondary structure of the 3'-terminal [poly(A)-preceding] untranslated region of the entero- and rhinovirus RNAs were worked out. The models for all these viruses share a common core element, but there are an extra enterovirus-specific element and still an additional element characteristic of a subset of enterovirus RNAs. The two latter models were verified for poliovirus and coxsackievirus B genomes by testing with single-strand and double-strand specific enzymatic and chemical probes. A tRNA-like tertiary structure model for the 3'-terminal folding of enterovirus RNAs was proposed. A similar folding was proposed for the 3' termini of the negative RNA strands as well as for the 5' termini of the positive strand of all entero- and rhinovirus RNAs. Implications of these data for template recognition during negative and positive RNA strands synthesis and for the evolution of the picornavirus genomes are discussed.