scholarly journals Mechanisms of DNA Packaging by Large Double-Stranded DNA Viruses

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 351-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venigalla B. Rao ◽  
Michael Feiss
2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (9) ◽  
pp. 3556-3561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver W. Bayfield ◽  
Evgeny Klimuk ◽  
Dennis C. Winkler ◽  
Emma L. Hesketh ◽  
Maria Chechik ◽  
...  

Double-stranded DNA viruses, including bacteriophages and herpesviruses, package their genomes into preformed capsids, using ATP-driven motors. Seeking to advance structural and mechanistic understanding, we established in vitro packaging for a thermostable bacteriophage, P23-45 of Thermus thermophilus. Both the unexpanded procapsid and the expanded mature capsid can package DNA in the presence of packaging ATPase over the 20 °C to 70 °C temperature range, with optimum activity at 50 °C to 65 °C. Cryo-EM reconstructions for the mature and immature capsids at 3.7-Å and 4.4-Å resolution, respectively, reveal conformational changes during capsid expansion. Capsomer interactions in the expanded capsid are reinforced by formation of intersubunit β-sheets with N-terminal segments of auxiliary protein trimers. Unexpectedly, the capsid has T=7 quasi-symmetry, despite the P23-45 genome being twice as large as those of known T=7 phages, in which the DNA is compacted to near-crystalline density. Our data explain this anomaly, showing how the canonical HK97 fold has adapted to double the volume of the capsid, while maintaining its structural integrity. Reconstructions of the procapsid and the expanded capsid defined the structure of the single vertex containing the portal protein. Together with a 1.95-Å resolution crystal structure of the portal protein and DNA packaging assays, these reconstructions indicate that capsid expansion affects the conformation of the portal protein, while still allowing DNA to be packaged. These observations suggest a mechanism by which structural events inside the capsid can be communicated to the outside.


2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 822-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kouji Kobiyama ◽  
Fumihiko Takeshita ◽  
Nao Jounai ◽  
Asako Sakaue-Sawano ◽  
Atsushi Miyawaki ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
Lauren Ash ◽  
Rachel Marschang ◽  
Jolianne Rijks ◽  
Amanda Duffus

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.


2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Prangishvili ◽  
R.A. Garrett

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.


2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (19) ◽  
pp. 9733-9748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Sanjuán ◽  
Miguel R. Nebot ◽  
Nicola Chirico ◽  
Louis M. Mansky ◽  
Robert Belshaw

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 .


Author(s):  
Dimitry Konstantinovich Lvov ◽  
Mikhail Yurievich Shchelkanov ◽  
Sergey Vladimirovich Alkhovsky ◽  
Petr Grigorievich Deryabin

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