RNA Viruses: RNA Roles in Pathogenesis, Coreplication and Viral Load

Poltronieri, Palmiro; Sun, Binlian; Mallardo, Massimo

Advances in RNA structure prediction from sequence are currently made by setting and testing new tools for generating hypotheses and confirming viral RNA structure-function relationships [17] . On this basis, novel methods have been tested to investigate the sequence-dependence of RNAprotein interactions [18] . RNA substrates demonstrate diverse intramolecular interactions, including mismatched base bulges, stem loops, pseudoknots, g-quartets, divalent cation interactions and noncanonical base pairs, determining threedimensional RNA structure. The molecular evolution of MS2 from low-to high-affinity hairpins, was analysed and quantified. The results suggest that quantitative analysis of RNA on a massively parallel array (RNA-MaP) provided an insight into the biophysics of RNAs and on consequences of sequence-function relationships.