Berkhout B, van Hemert F J
Department of Virology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Nucleic Acids Res. 1994 May 11;22(9):1705-11. doi: 10.1093/nar/22.9.1705.
Extremely high frequencies of the A nucleotide are found in the RNA genomes of the lentivirus group of retroviruses. It is presently unknown what molecular force is responsible for this A-pressure. In this manuscript, we demonstrate a correlation between this 'A-pressure' and the amino acid-usage of the lentivirus family. We compared the amino acid composition of the Gag and Pol proteins of the human immunodeficiency viruses type 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2) with that of the second group of human retroviruses; the human T-cell leukemia viruses type I and II (HTLV-I and HTLV-II). Differences in total amino acid content correlate with the preference for A-rich codons in the HIV genome. A pair-wise comparison of homologous amino acid positions in the Pol proteins indicates that both conservative and non-conservative changes can be accounted for by this A-bias. The putative molecular mechanism underlying this A-pressure and the evolutionary consequences are discussed.
在逆转录病毒慢病毒组的RNA基因组中发现了极高频率的A核苷酸。目前尚不清楚是什么分子力导致了这种A压力。在本手稿中,我们证明了这种“A压力”与慢病毒家族的氨基酸使用之间的相关性。我们将1型和2型人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV-1和HIV-2)的Gag和Pol蛋白的氨基酸组成与第二类人类逆转录病毒;I型和II型人类T细胞白血病病毒(HTLV-I和HTLV-II)进行了比较。总氨基酸含量的差异与HIV基因组中富含A的密码子偏好相关。Pol蛋白中同源氨基酸位置的成对比较表明,保守和非保守变化都可以由这种A偏好来解释。本文讨论了这种A压力潜在的分子机制及其进化后果。