A Comparative Analysis of the Structural Architecture of ssDNA Viruses.pdfVIP

Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine Vol. 9, Nos. 3–4, September–December 2008, 183–196 A comparative analysis of the structural architecture of ssDNA viruses Antonette Bennett, Robert McKenna and Mavis Agbandje-McKenna* Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, The McKnight Brain Institute, Center for Structural Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA ( Received 4 February 2008; final version received 2 April 2008 ) Virus assembly, utilizing a limited number of viral coat protein (CP or VP) building blocks, is an excellent example of a directed macromolecular interaction occurring in nature. Two basic principles govern the assembly of spherical (icosahedral) viruses: (i) Genetic Economy – the encapsidated genome encodes a single or few CPs that assemble a protective shell (the viral capsid); and (ii) specificity – the CPs have to fold to recognize each other and form exact CP– CP interfacial interactions during the assembly pathway. Using a variety of biophysical techniques, including X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, combined with homology model building, biochemistry and molecular biology, the nature of the interactions between protein–protein subunits and protein–nucleic acid that facilitate viral capsid assembly have been studied. This review discusses both the similarities and differences that have been elucidated for ssDNA Microviridae, Geminiviridae, and Parvoviridae virus families. The Microviridae represent a family of bacteriophages that utilize several CPs and scaffold proteins to assemble a T ¼ 1 icosahedral capsid, the Geminiviridae plant viruses assemble a unique twinned quasi-isometric (geminate) pseudo T ¼ 1 virion assembled fr