Rauscher S, Flamm C, Mandl C W, Heinz F X, Stadler P F
Institut für Theoretische Chemie, Universität Wien, Austria.
RNA. 1997 Jul;3(7):779-91.
The prediction of the complete matrix of base pairing probabilities was applied to the 3' noncoding region (NCR) of flavivirus genomes. This approach identifies not only well-defined secondary structure elements, but also regions of high structural flexibility. Flaviviruses, many of which are important human pathogens, have a common genomic organization, but exhibit a significant degree of RNA sequence diversity in the functionally important 3'-NCR. We demonstrate the presence of secondary structures shared by all flaviviruses, as well as structural features that are characteristic for groups of viruses within the genus reflecting the established classification scheme. The significance of most of the predicted structures is corroborated by compensatory mutations. The availability of infectious clones for several flaviviruses will allow the assessment of these structural elements in processes of the viral life cycle, such as replication and assembly.
碱基配对概率完整矩阵的预测方法被应用于黄病毒基因组的3'非编码区（NCR）。这种方法不仅能识别明确的二级结构元件，还能识别具有高度结构灵活性的区域。黄病毒中有许多是重要的人类病原体，它们具有共同的基因组结构，但在功能重要的3'-NCR区域表现出显著程度的RNA序列多样性。我们证明了所有黄病毒都具有共享的二级结构，以及反映既定分类方案的该属病毒组特有的结构特征。大多数预测结构的重要性通过补偿性突变得到了证实。几种黄病毒感染性克隆的可得性将有助于评估这些结构元件在病毒生命周期过程（如复制和组装）中的作用。
