scholarly journals Bacteriophage SPP1 Chu Is an Alkaline Exonuclease in the SynExo Family of Viral Two-Component Recombinases

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (8) ◽  
pp. 2465-2474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trina S. Vellani ◽  
Richard S. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Viral Recombination ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Recombination System ◽  
Two Component ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
Phage Spp1 ◽  
Dna Ends ◽  
Λ Red

ABSTRACT Many DNA viruses concatemerize their genomes as a prerequisite to packaging into capsids. Concatemerization arises from either replication or homologous recombination. Replication is already the target of many antiviral drugs, and viral recombinases are an attractive target for drug design, particularly for combination therapy with replication inhibitors, due to their important supporting role in viral growth. To dissect the molecular mechanisms of viral recombination, we and others previously identified a family of viral nucleases that comprise one component of a conserved, two-component viral recombination system. The nuclease component is related to the exonuclease of phage λ and is common to viruses with linear double-stranded DNA genomes. To test the idea that these viruses have a common strategy for recombination and genome concatemerization, we isolated the previously uncharacterized 34.1 gene from Bacillus subtilis phage SPP1, expressed it in Escherichia coli, purified the protein, and determined its enzymatic properties. Like λ exonuclease, Chu (the product of 34.1) forms an oligomer, is a processive alkaline exonuclease that digests linear double-stranded DNA in a Mg2+-dependent reaction, and shows a preference for 5′-phosphorylated DNA ends. A model for viral recombination, based on the phage λ Red recombination system, is proposed.

scholarly journals Creation of Golden Gate constructs for gene doctoring

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas M. Thomson ◽  
Chuanzhen Zhang ◽  
Eleftheria Trampari ◽  
Mark J. Pallen
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Dna Fragments ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Donor Plasmid ◽  
Recombination System ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Λ Red

Abstract Background Gene doctoring is an efficient recombination-based genetic engineering approach to mutagenesis of the bacterial chromosome that combines the λ-Red recombination system with a suicide donor plasmid that is cleaved in vivo to generate linear DNA fragments suitable for recombination. The use of a suicide donor plasmid makes Gene Doctoring more efficient than other recombineering technologies. However, generation of donor plasmids typically requires multiple cloning and screening steps. Results We constructed a simplified acceptor plasmid, called pDOC-GG, for the assembly of multiple DNA fragments precisely and simultaneously to form a donor plasmid using Golden Gate assembly. Successful constructs can easily be identified through blue-white screening. We demonstrated proof of principle by inserting a gene for green fluorescent protein into the chromosome of Escherichia coli. We also provided related genetic parts to assist in the construction of mutagenesis cassettes with a tetracycline-selectable marker. Conclusions Our plasmid greatly simplifies the construction of Gene Doctoring donor plasmids and allows for the assembly of complex, multi-part insertion or deletion cassettes with a free choice of target sites and selection markers. The tools we developed are applicable to gene editing for a wide variety of purposes in Enterobacteriaceae and potentially in other diverse bacterial families.

scholarly journals Extrachromosomal Histone H2B Mediates Innate Antiviral Immune Responses Induced by Intracellular Double-Stranded DNA

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 822-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kouji Kobiyama ◽  
Fumihiko Takeshita ◽  
Nao Jounai ◽  
Asako Sakaue-Sawano ◽  
Atsushi Miyawaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Cellular Signaling ◽  
Helical Structure ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Type I Interferons ◽  
Type I ◽  
Histone H2b ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Double Stranded Dna

ABSTRACT Fragments of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) forming a right-handed helical structure (B-DNA) stimulate cells to produce type I interferons (IFNs). While an adaptor molecule, IFN-β promoter stimulator 1 (IPS-1), mediates dsDNA-induced cellular signaling in human cells, the underlying molecular mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that the extrachromosomal histone H2B mediates innate antiviral immune responses in human cells. H2B physically interacts with IPS-1 through the association with a newly identified adaptor, CIAO (COOH-terminal importin 9-related adaptor organizing histone H2B and IPS-1), to transmit the cellular signaling for dsDNA but not immunostimulatory RNA. Extrachromosomal histone H2B was biologically crucial for cell-autonomous responses to protect against multiplication of DNA viruses but not an RNA virus. Thus, the present findings provide evidence indicating that the extrachromosomal histone H2B is engaged in the signaling pathway initiated by dsDNA to trigger antiviral innate immune responses.

scholarly journals The Fourth International Symposium on Ranaviruses: Summary of North American Herpetological Content and Points of Interest

2020 ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Lauren Ash ◽  
Rachel Marschang ◽  
Jolianne Rijks ◽  
Amanda Duffus
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
International Symposium ◽  
North American ◽  
Fourth International Symposium ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
The North ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Points Of Interest ◽  
The Family ◽  
Globally Distributed

Ranaviruses are large double stranded DNA viruses from the family Iridoviridae. They are globally distributed and are currently known to affect fish, reptiles and amphibians. In North America, ranaviruses are also widely distributed, and cause frequent morbidity and mortality events in both wild and cultured populations. This is a synopsys of the North American content of the 4th International Symposium on Ranaviruses held in May 2017 in Budapest, Hungary.

scholarly journals Exceptionally diverse morphotypes and genomes of crenarchaeal hyperthermophilic viruses

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Prangishvili ◽  
R.A. Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
African Swine Fever Virus ◽  
African Swine Fever ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Sequence Patterns ◽  
Hydrothermal Environments ◽  
Homologous Orfs ◽  
Reading Frames

The remarkable diversity of the morphologies of viruses found in terrestrial hydrothermal environments with temperatures >80°C is unprecedented for aquatic ecosystems. The best-studied viruses from these habitats have been assigned to novel viral families: Fuselloviridae, Lipothrixviridae and Rudiviridae. They all have double-stranded DNA genomes and infect hyperthermophilic crenarchaea of the orders Sulfolobales and Thermoproteales. Representatives of the different viral families share a few homologous ORFs (open reading frames). However, about 90% of all ORFs in the seven sequenced genomes show no significant matches to sequences in public databases. This suggests that these hyperthermophilic viruses have exceptional biochemical solutions for biological functions. Specific features of genome organization, as well as strategies for DNA replication, suggest that phylogenetic relationships exist between crenarchaeal rudiviruses and the large eukaryal DNA viruses: poxviruses, the African swine fever virus and Chlorella viruses. Sequence patterns at the ends of the linear genome of the lipothrixvirus AFV1 are reminiscent of the telomeric ends of linear eukaryal chromosomes and suggest that a primitive telomeric mechanism operates in this virus.

scholarly journals Viral Mutation Rates

2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (19) ◽  
pp. 9733-9748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Sanjuán ◽  
Miguel R. Nebot ◽  
Nicola Chirico ◽  
Louis M. Mansky ◽  
Robert Belshaw
Keyword(s):  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Mutation Rates ◽  
Cell Infection ◽  
Nucleotide Substitutions ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Viral Mutation

ABSTRACT Accurate estimates of virus mutation rates are important to understand the evolution of the viruses and to combat them. However, methods of estimation are varied and often complex. Here, we critically review over 40 original studies and establish criteria to facilitate comparative analyses. The mutation rates of 23 viruses are presented as substitutions per nucleotide per cell infection (s/n/c) and corrected for selection bias where necessary, using a new statistical method. The resulting rates range from 10−8 to10−6 s/n/c for DNA viruses and from 10−6 to 10−4 s/n/c for RNA viruses. Similar to what has been shown previously for DNA viruses, there appears to be a negative correlation between mutation rate and genome size among RNA viruses, but this result requires further experimental testing. Contrary to some suggestions, the mutation rate of retroviruses is not lower than that of other RNA viruses. We also show that nucleotide substitutions are on average four times more common than insertions/deletions (indels). Finally, we provide estimates of the mutation rate per nucleotide per strand copying, which tends to be lower than that per cell infection because some viruses undergo several rounds of copying per cell, particularly double-stranded DNA viruses. A regularly updated virus mutation rate data set will be available at www.uv.es/rsanjuan/virmut .

Double-Stranded DNA Viruses

2015 ◽  
pp. 393-406
Author(s):  
Dimitry Konstantinovich Lvov ◽  
Mikhail Yurievich Shchelkanov ◽  
Sergey Vladimirovich Alkhovsky ◽  
Petr Grigorievich Deryabin
Keyword(s):  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Double Stranded Dna

scholarly journals High Fidelity Deep Sequencing Reveals No Effect of ATM, ATR, and DNA-PK Cellular DNA Damage Response Pathways on Adenovirus Mutation Rate

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Risso-Ballester ◽  
Sanjuán
Keyword(s):  
Dna Damage ◽  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Dna Damage Response ◽  
Deep Sequencing ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Spontaneous Mutation ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Damage Response ◽  
Cellular Dna

Most DNA viruses exhibit relatively low rates of spontaneous mutation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying DNA virus genetic stability remain unclear. In principle, mutation rates should not depend solely on polymerase fidelity, but also on factors such as DNA damage and repair efficiency. Most eukaryotic DNA viruses interact with the cellular DNA damage response (DDR), but the role of DDR pathways in preventing mutations in the virus has not been tested empirically. To address this goal, we serially transferred human adenovirus type 5 in cells in which the telangiectasia-mutated PI3K-related protein kinase (ATM), the ATM/Rad3-related (ATR) kinase, and the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) were chemically inactivated, as well as in control cells displaying normal DDR pathway functioning. High-fidelity deep sequencing of these viral populations revealed mutation frequencies in the order of one-millionth, with no detectable effect of the inactivation of DDR mediators ATM, ATR, and DNA-PK on adenovirus sequence variability. This suggests that these DDR pathways do not play a major role in determining adenovirus genetic diversity.

scholarly journals Adintoviruses: A Proposed Animal-Tropic Family of Midsize Eukaryotic Linear dsDNA (MELD) Viruses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel J Starrett ◽  
Michael J Tisza ◽  
Nicole L Welch ◽  
Anna K Belford ◽  
Alberto Peretti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Packaging ◽  
Metagenomic Sequence ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Integrase Gene ◽  
Data Mining Approach ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Linear Dsdna ◽  
Dsdna Viruses

Abstract Polintons (also known as Mavericks) were initially identified as a widespread class of eukaryotic transposons named for their hallmark type B DNA polymerase and retrovirus-like integrase genes. It has since been recognized that many polintons encode possible capsid proteins and viral genome-packaging ATPases similar to those of a diverse range of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses. This supports the inference that at least some polintons are actually viruses capable of cell-to-cell spread. At present, there are no polinton-associated capsid protein genes annotated in public sequence databases. To rectify this deficiency, we used a data-mining approach to investigate the distribution and gene content of polinton-like elements and related DNA viruses in animal genomic and metagenomic sequence datasets. The results define a discrete family-like clade of viruses with two genus-level divisions. We propose the family name Adintoviridae, connoting similarities to adenovirus virion proteins and the presence of a retrovirus-like integrase gene. Although adintovirus-class PolB sequences were detected in datasets for fungi and various unicellular eukaryotes, sequences resembling adintovirus virion proteins and accessory genes appear to be restricted to animals. Degraded adintovirus sequences are endogenized into the germlines of a wide range of animals, including humans.

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