The structure and physical properties of a packaged bacteriophage particle.

ABSTRACT: A string of nucleotides confined within a protein capsid contains all the instructions necessary to make a functional virus particle, a virion. Although the structure of the protein capsid is known for many virus species^1,2, the three-dimensional organization of viral genomes has mostly eluded experimental probes^3,4. Here we report all-atom structural models of an HK97 virion⁵, including its entire 39,732 base pair genome, obtained through multiresolution simulations. Mimicking the action of a packaging motor⁶, the genome was gradually loaded into the capsid. The structure of the packaged capsid was then refined through simulations of increasing resolution, which produced a 26 million atom model of the complete virion, including water and ions co

SUBMITTER: Coshic K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11196859 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature