Summary information and primary citation
- PDB-id
- 2lqz; DSSR-derived features in text and JSON formats
- Class
- RNA
- Method
- NMR
- Summary
- Structure of the RNA claw of the DNA packaging motor of bacteriophage 29
- Reference
- Harjes E, Kitamura A, Zhao W, Morais MC, Jardine PJ, Grimes S, Matsuo H (2012): "Structure of the RNA claw of the DNA packaging motor of bacteriophage 29." Nucleic Acids Res., 40, 9953-9963. doi: 10.1093/nar/gks724.
- Abstract
- Bacteriophage DNA packaging motors translocate their genomic DNA into viral heads, compacting it to near-crystalline density. The Bacillus subtilis phage 29 has a unique ring of RNA (pRNA) that is an essential component of its motor, serving as a scaffold for the packaging ATPase. Previously, deletion of a three-base bulge (18-CCA-20) in the pRNA A-helix was shown to abolish packaging activity. Here, we solved the structure of this crucial bulge by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) using a 27mer RNA fragment containing the bulge (27b). The bulge actually involves five nucleotides (17-UCCA-20 and A100), as U17 and A100 are not base paired as predicted. Mutational analysis showed these newly identified bulge residues are important for DNA packaging. The bulge introduces a 33-35° bend in the helical axis, and inter-helical motion around this bend appears to be restricted. A model of the functional 120b pRNA was generated using a 27b NMR structure and the crystal structure of the 66b prohead-binding domain. Fitting this model into a cryo-EM map generated a pentameric pRNA structure; five helices projecting from the pRNA ring resemble an RNA claw. Biochemical analysis suggested that this shape is important for coordinated motor action required for DNA translocation.
