Viral tRNAs and tRNA-like structures

Viruses commonly exploit or modify some aspect of tRNA biology. Large DNA viruses, especially bacteriophages, phycodnaviruses, and mimiviruses, produce their own tRNAs, apparently to adjust translational capacity during infection. Retroviruses recruit specific host tRNAs for use in priming the reverse transcription of their genome. Certain positive‐strand RNA plant viral genomes possess 3′‐tRNA‐like structures (TLSs) that are built quite differently from authentic tRNAs, and yet efficiently recapitulate several properties of tRNAs. The structures and roles of these TLSs are discussed, emphasizing the variety in both structure and function. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article is categorized under: RNA Structure and Dynamics > Influence of RNA Structure in Biological Systems RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein–RNA Interactions: Functional Implications Translation > Translation Regulation RNA Processing > tRNA Processing