Cryo-EM near-atomic structure of a dsRNA fungal virus shows ancient structural motifs preserved in the dsRNA viral lineage
Abstract
Viruses that are seemingly unrelated in genomic studies, and which infect hosts in different domains of life, show similarities in virion structure that indicate deep evolutionary relationships. We report the cryo-EM structure, at near-atomic resolution, of the fungal dsRNA Penicillium chrysogenum virus. Its capsid protein is a duplication of a single primordial α-helical domain. This domain has a fold that is conserved among dsRNA viruses; it has increased its complexity through an early gene duplication event, followed by insertion of distinct segments in preferential "hotspots." We show evidence that this preserved hallmark indicates an ancestral fold, and we suggest a relationship among current viral lineages.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- May 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1404330111
- Bibcode:
- 2014PNAS..111.7641L