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Published on: August 9, 2013
Dual modes of RNA-silencing suppression by Flock House virus protein B2
Jeffrey A Chao1, June Hyung Lee, Brian R Chapados
1Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Abstract:
As a counter-defense against antiviral RNA silencing during infection, the insect Flock House virus (FHV) expresses the silencing suppressor protein B2. Biochemical experiments show that B2 binds to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) without regard to length and inhibits cleavage of dsRNA by Dicer in vitro. A cocrystal structure reveals that a B2 dimer forms a four-helix bundle that binds to one face of an A-form RNA duplex independently of sequence. These results suggest that B2 blocks both cleavage of the FHV genome by Dicer and incorporation of FHV small interfering RNAs into the RNA-induced silencing complex.
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