Structure of the bacteriophage PhiKZ non-virion RNA polymerase bound to a p119L open promoter analogue.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriophage ΦKZ (PhiKZ) was the first identified member of a family of massive bacterial viruses. ΦKZ infects Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which kills tens of thousands every year, and it therefore has potential as a bacteriophage therapy. On infection, ΦKZ forms a `nucleus' to protect its genome by excluding host immune systems. This barrier means that it has had to become independent of the host transcriptional apparatus; it cannot simply recruit the host RNA polymerase (RNAP) to its promoters as it is excluded from the viral DNA, and therefore it expresses and imports its own non-virion RNA polymerase (nvRNAP). The ΦKZ nvRNAP, and related jumbo-phage RNAPs including that from bacteriophage AR9, are particularly noteworthy. Unlike typical viral RNAPs which are formed as only a single subuni

SUBMITTER: Chen CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12809450 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature