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Published on: April 9, 2017
Insights into the evolution of a complex virus from the crystal structure of vaccinia virus D13
Mohammad W Bahar1, Stephen C Graham, David I Stuart
1The Division of Structural Biology and the Oxford Protein Production Facility, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK.
Abstract:
The morphogenesis of poxviruses such as vaccinia virus (VACV) sees the virion shape mature from spherical to brick-shaped. Trimeric capsomers of the VACV D13 protein form a transitory, stabilizing lattice on the surface of the initial spherical immature virus particle. The crystal structure of D13 reveals that this major scaffolding protein comprises a double β barrel "jelly-roll" subunit arranged as pseudo-hexagonal trimers. These structural features are characteristic of the major capsid proteins of a lineage of large icosahedral double-stranded DNA viruses including human adenovirus and the bacteriophages PRD1 and PM2. Structure-based phylogenetic analysis confirms that VACV belongs to this lineage, suggesting that (analogously to higher organism embryogenesis) early poxvirus morphogenesis reflects their evolution from a lineage of viruses sharing a common icosahedral ancestor.
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