BibTex format
@article{Fuhrmann:2026:10.1371/journal.ppat.1014341,
author = {Fuhrmann, E and Toda, S and Leins, J and Cetraro, P and Deshpande, V and Rowell, J and Chapman, EA and Jacobsen, C and Kropp, KA and Lamers, MM and Loliashvili, E and Saleban, M and Verstraten, R and Vogt, C and Wongwiwat, W and Ouwendijk, WJD and Viejo-Borbolla, A and White, RE and Wilson, AC and Burgess, HM and Depledge, DP},
doi = {10.1371/journal.ppat.1014341},
journal = {PLoS Pathogens},
title = {Extended poly(A) tails are a shared feature of herpesvirus mRNAs},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1014341},
volume = {22},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - Poly(A) tails are present on most cellular and viral mRNAs, providing a platform for poly(A)-binding proteins that stimulate translation and regulate the deadenylation and stability of transcripts in the cytoplasm. Here we leverage nanopore direct RNA sequencing to analyse the distribution of poly(A) tail lengths on cellular and viral mRNAs across Herpesviridae and other DNA and RNA virus infections. We find that herpesvirus mRNA poly(A) tails are consistently longer than those on cellular and other viral transcripts, presenting a previously unrecognized yet widespread mechanism to potentially advantage herpesviral gene expression. This contrasts with the templated poly(A) tails on coronavirus RNAs and those on cytoplasmically transcribed poxviral mRNAs, which are more similar in length to those on host mRNAs. Herpesviral noncoding RNAs display differential poly(A) tailing patterns while individual herpesviral mRNAs also show variation in the extent to which their poly(A) tail lengths change during the virus lifecycle, suggestive of additional uncharacterised layers of poly(A) tail length regulation. Importantly, while we detect non-adenosine nucleotides within herpesviral poly(A) tails, which are known to oppose deadenylase activity, this “mixed tailing” is not at sufficient frequency to explain the widespread extended tails of herpesvirus mRNAs.
AU - Fuhrmann,E
AU - Toda,S
AU - Leins,J
AU - Cetraro,P
AU - Deshpande,V
AU - Rowell,J
AU - Chapman,EA
AU - Jacobsen,C
AU - Kropp,KA
AU - Lamers,MM
AU - Loliashvili,E
AU - Saleban,M
AU - Verstraten,R
AU - Vogt,C
AU - Wongwiwat,W
AU - Ouwendijk,WJD
AU - Viejo-Borbolla,A
AU - White,RE
AU - Wilson,AC
AU - Burgess,HM
AU - Depledge,DP
DO - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1014341
PY - 2026///
SN - 1553-7366
TI - Extended poly(A) tails are a shared feature of herpesvirus mRNAs
T2 - PLoS Pathogens
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1014341
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1014341
VL - 22
ER -