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Simple and Robust in vivo and in vitro Approach for Studying Virus Assembly
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Bacteriophage MS2 displays unreported capsid variability assembling T = 4 and mixed capsids
Natàlia de Martín Garrido1, Michael A Crone1,2, Kailash Ramlaul1
1Section of Structural and Synthetic Biology, Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
Molecular Microbiology
|October 17, 2019
Summary
The bacteriophage MS2 capsid can form both T=3 and T=4 structures when assembled with non-genomic RNA. This suggests the virus
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Structural Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Bacteriophage MS2 is a positive-sense RNA virus infecting Escherichia coli.
- Its capsid structure is T=3 pseudo-icosahedral, with genome ordering influencing assembly.
- Infection involves binding to the F-pilus via a maturation protein.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the structures formed by assembling recombinant MS2 capsids with non-genomic RNA.
- To determine the range of capsid triangulation numbers generated.
- To resolve the structures of different capsid forms.
Main Methods:
- Assembly of recombinant MS2 capsids with specific RNA sequences.
- Cryogenic electron microscopy for structural determination.
- High-resolution structural analysis of T=3 and T=4 capsids.
Main Results:
- MS2 capsids assembled with non-genomic RNA formed T=3, T=4, and mixed structures.
- Resolved structures of T=3 and T=4 capsids to 4 Å and 6 Å resolution, respectively.
- Demonstrated the capacity for mixed triangulation number formation.
Conclusions:
- The basic MS2 capsid structure can yield a mixture of T=3 and T=4 forms.
- This supports a role for the ordered viral genome in promoting functional T=3 virion formation.
- Highlights the flexibility of MS2 capsid assembly.
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