Structure Unveils Relationships between RNA Virus Polymerases.

ABSTRACT: RNA viruses are the fastest evolving known biological entities. Consequently, the sequence similarity between homologous viral proteins disappears quickly, limiting the usability of traditional sequence-based phylogenetic methods in the reconstruction of relationships and evolutionary history among RNA viruses. Protein structures, however, typically evolve more slowly than sequences, and structural similarity can still be evident, when no sequence similarity can be detected. Here, we used an automated structural comparison method, homologous structure finder, for comprehensive comparisons of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRps). We identified a common structural core of 231 residues for all the structurally characterized viral RdRps, covering segmented and non-segmented negative-sen

SUBMITTER: Monttinen HAM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7922027 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature