Cryo-EM structure of ssDNA bacteriophage ΦCjT23 provides insight into early virus evolution.

ABSTRACT: The origin of viruses remains an open question. While lack of detectable sequence similarity hampers the analysis of distantly related viruses, structural biology investigations of conserved capsid protein structures facilitate the study of distant evolutionary relationships. Here we characterize the lipid-containing ssDNA temperate bacteriophage ΦCjT23, which infects Flavobacterium sp. (Bacteroidetes). We report ΦCjT23-like sequences in the genome of strains belonging to several Flavobacterium species. The virion structure determined by cryogenic electron microscopy reveals similarities to members of the viral kingdom Bamfordvirae that currently consists solely of dsDNA viruses with a major capsid protein composed of two upright β-sandwiches. The minimalistic structure of ΦCjT23 suggests

SUBMITTER: Kejzar N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9719478 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature