Packaging signals in single-stranded RNA viruses: nature's alternative to a purely electrostatic assembly mechanism.

ABSTRACT: The formation of a protective protein container is an essential step in the life-cycle of most viruses. In the case of single-stranded (ss)RNA viruses, this step occurs in parallel with genome packaging in a co-assembly process. Previously, it had been thought that this process can be explained entirely by electrostatics. Inspired by recent single-molecule fluorescence experiments that recapitulate the RNA packaging specificity seen in vivo for two model viruses, we present an alternative theory, which recognizes the important cooperative roles played by RNA-coat protein interactions, at sites we have termed packaging signals. The hypothesis is that multiple copies of packaging signals, repeated according to capsid symmetry, aid formation of the required capsid protein conformers at define

SUBMITTER: Stockley PG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3662417 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature