New insights into the nonconserved noncoding region of the subtype-determinant hemagglutinin and neuraminidase segments of influenza A viruses

The noncoding regions (NCRs) of the eight-segmented viral RNAs (vRNAs) of influenza A virus consist of the highly conserved promoter region and the nonconserved segment-specific NCRs at both the 3' and 5' ends. The roles of the segment-specific NCRs of the eight segments have been extensively studied. However, the diversities in the same region of the two subtype-determinant hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) segments have received little attention. In this study, we bioinformatically analyzed all available NCRs of HA and NA vRNAs of influenza A viruses and found that nucleotides in the segment-specific NCRs of HA and NA vRNAs are subtype specific and vary significantly in sequence and length at both the 3' and 5' ends among different subtypes. We then systematically studied the biological significance of the HA subtype-specific NCRs (HA ssNCRs) of the common HA subtypes (H1 to H7 and H9) in the context of the WSN (H1N1) reverse genetics system. We found that the HA ssNCRs play a critical role in HA vRNA virion incorporation. Upon HA vRNA incorporation, the 3'-end HA ssNCR plays a more critical role than the 5'-end HA ssNCR, and no stringent compatibility between the two ends is required. Furthermore, our data imply that, in addition to a particular nucleotide(s), the length of the HA ssNCR is involved in regulating HA vRNA incorporation efficiency. These results provide new insights into the HA segment virion incorporation that is critical for the emergence of epidemic and pandemic influenza A virus strains.

Importance: The nonconserved noncoding regions (NCRs) of the vRNAs of influenza A virus have been extensively studied, whereas the diversities in the nonconserved NCRs of the two subtype-determinant segments hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) have received little attention. In this study, we bioinformatically analyzed all available NCRs of HA and NA vRNAs and discovered that the HA and NA vRNAs contain key subtype signatures in the NCRs. Our functional studies of the HA subtype-specific NCRs (HA ssNCRs) of the common HA subtypes in the context of WSN virus (H1N1) demonstrated that the HA ssNCR modulates virus replication efficiency by influencing HA segment virion incorporation. Moreover, we revealed important features of the HA ssNCR in determining HA vRNA incorporation efficiency. These data not only show new genetic characteristics of influenza A viruses, but also provide further evidence for understanding the selective genome packaging of influenza virus required for the emergence of epidemic and pandemic influenza virus strains.