Molecular dissection of influenza virus nucleoprotein: deletion mapping of the RNA binding domain

Influenza virus nucleoprotein (NP) is associated with the genome RNA, forming ribonucleoprotein cores. To identify the amino acid sequence involved in RNA binding, we performed Northwestern blot analysis with a set of N- and C-terminal deletion mutants of NP produced in Escherichia coli. The RNA binding region has been mapped between amino acid residues 91 and 188, a stretch of residues that contains a sequence that is not only highly conserved among NPs from A-, B-, and C-type influenza viruses but also similar to the RNA binding domain of a plant virus movement protein.