Abstract
The co-transcriptional editing of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) P gene has been studied by sequence analysis of cloned viral genomic RNA and mRNA. Evidence has been obtained for the specific insertion of non-templated G nucleotides, the consequence of which is the generation of three populations of P gene-derived mRNAs. The three populations encode proteins (P, V and W) which have a common N-terminal region, but which utilize three different reading frames at their C termini. Paradoxically, NDV edits its P gene mRNA by the insertion of non-templated G residues in a manner similar to Sendai and measles viruses (P V editing) despite its apparent closer evolutionary relationship to the simian virus type 5, mumps and related group of viruses which edit a V genomic sequence to generate an mRNA to encode a functional P protein (V P editing).
† Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Centre for Molecular Recognition, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TD, U.K.
‡ Present address: AFRC Laboratory of Molecular Signalling, University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, U.K.