Jaana K. H. Bamford

Viral Evolution Revealed by Bacteriophage PRD1 and Human Adenovirus Coat Protein Structures

The unusual bacteriophage PRD1 features a membrane beneath its icosahedral protein coat. The crystal structure of the major coat protein, P3, at 1.85 A resolution reveals a molecule with three interlocking subunits, each with two eight-stranded viral jelly rolls normal to the viral capsid, and putative membrane-interacting regions. Surprisingly, the P3 molecule closely resembles hexon, the equivalent protein in human adenovirus. Both viruses also have similar overall architecture, with identical capsid lattices and attachment proteins at their vertices. Although these two dsDNA viruses infect hosts from very different kingdoms, their striking similarities, from major coat protein through capsid architecture, strongly suggest their evolutionary relationship.

Insights into assembly from structural analysis of bacteriophage PRD1

The structure of the membrane-containing bacteriophage PRD1 has been determined by X-ray crystallography at about 4 Å resolution. Here we describe the structure and location of proteins P3, P16, P30 and P31. Different structural proteins seem to have specialist roles in controlling virus assembly. The linearly extended P30 appears to nucleate the formation of the icosahedral facets (composed of trimers of the major capsid protein, P3) and acts as a molecular tape-measure, defining the size of the virus and cementing the facets together. Pentamers of P31 form the vertex base, interlocking with subunits of P3 and interacting with the membrane protein P16. The architectural similarities with adenovirus and one of the largest known virus particles PBCV-1 support the notion that the mechanism of assembly of PRD1 is scaleable and applies across the major viral lineage formed by these viruses.

Membrane structure and interactions with protein and DNA in bacteriophage PRD1

Membranes are essential for selectively controlling the passage of molecules in and out of cells and mediating the response of cells to their environment. Biological membranes and their associated proteins present considerable difficulties for structural analysis. Although enveloped viruses have been imaged at about 9 Å resolution by cryo-electron microscopy and image reconstruction, no detailed crystallographic structure of a membrane system has been described. The structure of the bacteriophage PRD1 particle, determined by X-ray crystallography at about 4 Å resolution, allows the first detailed analysis of a membrane-containing virus. The architecture of the viral capsid and its implications for virus assembly are presented in the accompanying paper. Here we show that the electron density also reveals the icosahedral lipid bilayer, beneath the protein capsid, enveloping the viral DNA. The viral membrane contains about 26,000 lipid molecules asymmetrically distributed between the membrane leaflets. The inner leaflet is composed predominantly of zwitterionic phosphatidylethanolamine molecules, facilitating a very close interaction with the viral DNA, which we estimate to be packaged to a pressure of about 45 atm, factors that are likely to be important during membrane-mediated DNA translocation into the host cell. In contrast, the outer leaflet is enriched in phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin, which show a marked lateral segregation within the icosahedral asymmetric unit. In addition, the lipid headgroups show a surprising degree of order.

Constituents of SH1, a Novel Lipid-Containing Virus Infecting the Halophilic Euryarchaeon Haloarcula hispanica

ABSTRACT Recent studies have indicated that a number of bacterial and eukaryotic viruses that share a common architectural principle are related, leading to the proposal of an early common ancestor. A prediction of this model would be the discovery of similar viruses that infect archaeal hosts. Our main interest lies in icosahedral double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses with an internal membrane, and we now extend our studies to include viruses infecting archaeal hosts. While the number of sequenced archaeal viruses is increasing, very little sequence similarity has been detected between bacterial and eukaryotic viruses. In this investigation we rigorously show that SH1, an icosahedral dsDNA virus infecting Haloarcula hispanica, possesses lipid structural components that are selectively acquired from the host pool. We also determined the sequence of the 31-kb SH1 genome and positively identified genes for 11 structural proteins, with putative identification of three additional proteins. The SH1 genome is unique and, except for a few open reading frames, shows no detectable similarity to other published sequences, but the overall structure of the SH1 virion and its linear genome with inverted terminal repeats is reminiscent of lipid-containing dsDNA bacteriophages like PRD1.

Capsomer proteins of bacteriophage PRD1, a bacterial virus with a membrane

Bacteriophage PRD1 infecting Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium translocates its membrane from the host plasma membrane to the virus particle. One obligatory component in this process is the major capsid protein. In this investigation we describe characteristics of the homomultimeric major and minor capsid proteins including the sequences of the corresponding genes. The minor capsid protein was found to contain a short collagen-like region (Gly-X-Y)6. This is the first time this motif has been reported for a prokaryotic protein.

Insights into Virus Evolution and Membrane Biogenesis from the Structure of the Marine Lipid-Containing Bacteriophage PM2

Recent, primarily structural observations indicate that related viruses, harboring no sequence similarity, infect hosts of different domains of life. One such clade of viruses, defined by common capsid architecture and coat protein fold, is the so-called PRD1-adenovirus lineage. Here we report the structure of the marine lipid-containing bacteriophage PM2 determined by crystallographic analyses of the entire approximately 45 MDa virion and of the outer coat proteins P1 and P2, revealing PM2 to be a primeval member of the PRD1-adenovirus lineage with an icosahedral shell and canonical double beta barrel major coat protein. The view of the lipid bilayer, richly decorated with membrane proteins, constitutes a rare visualization of an in vivo membrane. The viral membrane proteins P3 and P6 are organized into a lattice, suggesting a possible assembly pathway to produce the mature virus.

Comparative analysis of bacterial viruses Bam35, infecting a gram-positive host, and PRD1, infecting gram-negative hosts, demonstrates a viral lineage.

Extra- and intracellular viruses in the biosphere outnumber their cellular hosts by at least one order of magnitude. How is this enormous domain of viruses organized? Sampling of the virosphere has been scarce and focused on viruses infecting humans, cultivated plants, and animals as well as those infecting well-studied bacteria. It has been relatively easy to cluster closely related viruses based on their genome sequences. However, it has been impossible to establish long-range evolutionary relationships as sequence homology diminishes. Recent advances in the evaluation of virus architecture by high-resolution structural analysis and elucidation of viral functions have allowed new opportunities for establishment of possible long-range phylogenic relationships-virus lineages. Here, we use a genomic approach to investigate a proposed virus lineage formed by bacteriophage PRD1, infecting gram-negative bacteria, and human adenovirus. The new member of this proposed lineage, bacteriophage Bam35, is morphologically indistinguishable from PRD1. It infects gram-positive hosts that evolutionarily separated from gram-negative bacteria more than one billion years ago. For example, it can be inferred from structural analysis of the coat protein sequence that the fold is very similar to that of PRD1. This and other observations made here support the idea that a common early ancestor for Bam35, PRD1, and adenoviruses existed.

Minor proteins, mobile arms and membrane–capsid interactions in the bacteriophage PRD1 capsid

Bacteriophage PRD1 shares many structural and functional similarities with adenovirus. A major difference is the PRD1 internal membrane, which acts in concert with vertex proteins to translocate the phage genome into the host. Multiresolution models of the PRD1 capsid, together with genetic analyses, provide fine details of the molecular interactions associated with particle stability and membrane dynamics. The N- and C-termini of the major coat protein (P3), which are required for capsid assembly, act as conformational switches bridging capsid to membrane and linking P3 trimers. Electrostatic P3–membrane interactions increase virion stability upon DNA packaging. Newly revealed proteins suggest how the metastable vertex works and how the capsid edges are stabilized.

Genome organization of membrane-containing bacteriophage PRD1

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the late region (11 kbp) of the lipid-containing bacteriophage PRD1. Gene localization was carried out by complementing nonsense phage mutants with genomic clones containing specific reading frames. The localization was confirmed by sequencing the N-termini of isolated gene products as well as sequencing the N-termini of tryptic fragments of the phage membrane-associated proteins. This, with the previously obtained sequence of the early regions, allowed us to organize most of the phage genes in the phage genome.

The Tailless Icosahedral Membrane Virus PRD1 Localizes the Proteins Involved in Genome Packaging and Injection at a Unique Vertex

ABSTRACT The double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus PRD1 carries its genome in a membrane surrounded by an icosahedral protein shell. The shell contains 240 copies of the trimeric P3 protein arranged with a pseudo T = 25 triangulation that is reminiscent of the mammalian adenovirus. DNA packaging and infection are believed to occur through the vertices of the particle. We have used immunolabeling to define the distribution of proteins on the virion surface. Antibodies to protein P3 labeled the entire surface of the virus. Most of the 12 vertices labeled with antibodies directed against proteins P5, P2, and P31. These proteins are known to function in virus binding to the cell surface. Proteins P6, P11, and P20 were found on a single vertex per virion. The P6 and P20 proteins are believed to function in DNA packaging. Protein P11 is a pilot protein that is involved in a complex that mediates the early stages of DNA entry to the host cell. Labeling with antibodies to P5 or P2 did not affect the labeling of P6, the unique vertex protein. Labeling with antibodies to the unique vertex protein P6 interfered with the labeling by antibodies to the unique vertex protein P20. We conclude that PRD1 utilizes 11 of its vertices for initial receptor binding. It utilizes a single, unique vertex for both DNA packing during assembly and DNA delivery during infection.