Initial location of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase in the bacteriophage Phi6 procapsid determined by cryo-electron microscopy.

ABSTRACT: The RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) of Cystoviridae bacteriophages, like those of eukaryotic viruses of the Reoviridae, function inside the inner capsid shell in both replication and transcription. In bacteriophage Phi6, this inner shell is first assembled as an icosahedral procapsid with recessed 5-fold vertices that subsequently undergoes major structural changes during maturation. The tripartite genome is packaged as single-stranded RNA molecules via channels on the 5-fold vertices, and transcripts probably exit the mature capsid by the same route. The RdRP (protein P2) is assembled within the procapsid, and it was thought that it should be located on the 5-fold axes near the RNA entry and exit channels. To determine the initial location of the RdRP inside the procapsid of bacteri

SUBMITTER: Sen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2335345 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature