Distribution of DNA-condensing protein complexes in the adenovirus core.

ABSTRACT: Genome packing in adenovirus has long evaded precise description, since the viral dsDNA molecule condensed by proteins (core) lacks icosahedral order characteristic of the virus protein coating (capsid). We show that useful insights regarding the organization of the core can be inferred from the analysis of spatial distributions of the DNA and condensing protein units (adenosomes). These were obtained from the inspection of cryo-electron tomography reconstructions of individual human adenovirus particles. Our analysis shows that the core lacks symmetry and strict order, yet the adenosome distribution is not entirely random. The features of the distribution can be explained by modeling the condensing proteins and the part of the genome in each adenosome as very soft spheres, interacting rep

SUBMITTER: Perez-Berna AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4417152 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature