Translation of the rat LINE bicistronic RNAs in vitro involves ribosomal reinitiation instead of frameshifting

The genomic structure of the rat LINE (L1Rn) DNA element contains two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) and apparently has a potential to code for a DNA/RNA-binding protein (in ORF1) and a reverse transcriptase (in ORF2). We have characterized a 1,630-bp L1Rn cDNA clone encompassing the overlapping ORFs and a 600-bp genomic fragment derived from a full-length L1Rn member and containing the beginning of ORF1. These DNAs were used to restore in part the ORF1-ORF2 organization of L1Rn after being cloned into the pSP65 vector under the control of SP6 polymerase promoter. To test whether L1Rn ORF1 and ORF2 are expressed as a fusion protein, a series of capped RNAs with progressive truncations containing one or both ORFs were prepared and translated in the rabbit reticulocyte lysate. Our analysis indicates that the expression of a putative reverse transcriptase-encoded L1Rn ORF2 in vitro is regulated by reinitiation or internal initiation of translation but not by ribosomal frameshifting.