The capsid protein of beak and feather disease virus binds to the viral DNA and is responsible for transporting the replication-associated protein into the nucleus.

ABSTRACT: Circoviruses lack an autonomous DNA polymerase and are dependent on the replication machinery of the host cell for de novo DNA synthesis. Accordingly, the viral DNA needs to cross both the plasma membrane and the nuclear envelope before replication can occur. Here we report on the subcellular distribution of the beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) capsid protein (CP) and replication-associated protein (Rep) expressed via recombinant baculoviruses in an insect cell system and test the hypothesis that the CP is responsible for transporting the viral genome, as well as Rep, across the nuclear envelope. The intracellular localization of the BFDV CP was found to be directed by three partially overlapping bipartite nuclear localization signals (NLSs) situated between residues 16 and 56 at the

SUBMITTER: Heath L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1489033 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature