Cited by 45Bacteriophages and microbial interactionsEnzyme Structure and FunctionGenomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Structure and function of virion RNA polymerase of a crAss-like phage

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Drobysheva, Arina V., Panafidina, Sofia A., Kolesnik, Matvei V., Klimuk, Evgeny I., Minakhin, Leonid, Yakunina, Maria V., Borukhov, Sergei, Nilsson, Emelie +7 more·2021·Nature

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

CrAss-like phages are a recently described expansive group of viruses that includes the most abundant virus in the human gut 1-3. The genomes of all crAss-like phages encode a large virion-packaged protein 2,4 that contains a DFDxD sequence motif, which forms the catalytic site in cellular multisubunit RNA polymerases (RNAPs)5. Here, using Cellulophaga baltica crAss-like phage phi14:2 as a model system, we show that this protein is a DNA-dependent RNAP that is translocated into the host cell along with the phage DNA and transcribes early phage genes. We determined the crystal structure of this 2,180-residue enzyme in a self-inhibited state, which probably occurs before virion packaging. This conformation is attained with the help of a cleft-blocking domain that interacts with the active site and occupies the cavity in which the RNA-DNA hybrid binds. Structurally, phi14:2 RNAP is most similar to eukaryotic RNAPs that are involved in RNA interference 6,7, although most of the phi14:2 RNAP structure (nearly 1,600 residues) maps to a new region of the protein fold space. Considering this structural similarity, we propose that eukaryal RNA interference polymerases have their origins in phage, which parallels the emergence of the mitochondrial transcription apparatus 8.

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Authors
Drobysheva, A. V., Panafidina, S. A., Kolesnik, M. V., Klimuk, E. I., Minakhin, L., Yakunina, M. V., Borukhov, S., Nilsson, E., Holmfeldt, K., Yutin, N., Makarova, K. S., Koonin, E. V., Severinov, K. V., Leiman, P. G., & Sokolova, M. L.
Affiliations
  • Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (RU)
  • Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (RU)
  • Rowan University (US)
  • Linnaeus University (SE)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
  • The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
Corresponding author
  • Severinov, Konstantin V.
  • Leiman, Petr G.
  • Sokolova, Maria L.
Venue
Nature
Published
2020-11-18
Volume
589
Issue
7841
Pages
306-309
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3099838549
Cited by
44
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 2
FWCI
3.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Russian Science Foundation (19-74-00011)
  • Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM139034)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Enzyme Structure and Function
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
Keywords
crAss-like phages, DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, crystal structure, RNA-DNA hybrids, phage-host interactions
MeSH terms
Protein Domains, Bacteriophages, Cell-Free System, DNA, Single-Stranded, Genes, Viral, Models, Biological, Models, Molecular, DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Viral, Crystallography, X-Ray, Evolution, Molecular, Catalytic Domain, Protein Subunits, RNA Interference, Flavobacteriaceae

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