Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination
    Science. 2006 Jun 23;312(5781):1791-5. Epub 2006 May 18.

    The structure of an infectious P22 virion shows the signal for headful DNA packaging.

    Source

    Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.

    Abstract

    Bacteriophages, herpesviruses, and other large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses contain molecular machines that pump DNA into preassembled procapsids, generating internal capsid pressures exceeding, by 10-fold, that of bottled champagne. A 17 angstrom resolution asymmetric reconstruction of the infectious P22 virion reveals that tightly spooled DNA about the portal dodecamer forces a conformation that is significantly different from that observed in isolated portals assembled from ectopically expressed protein. We propose that the tight dsDNA spooling activates the switch that signals the headful chromosome packing density to the particle exterior.

    PMID:
    16709746
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

      Supplemental Content

      Icon for HighWire Press

      Save items

      loading

      Recent activity

      Your browsing activity is empty.

      Activity recording is turned off.

      Turn recording back on

      See more...
      Write to the Help Desk