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Journal of Virology, March 2007, p. 2970-2979, Vol. 81, No. 6
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02211-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Efficient DNA Packaging of Bacteriophage PRD1 Requires the Unique Vertex Protein P6{triangledown}

Nelli J. Karhu,1 Gabija Ziedaite,1 Dennis H. Bamford,1 and Jaana K. H. Bamford2*

Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Biocenter 2, P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland,1 Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FIN-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland2

Received 9 October 2006/ Accepted 21 December 2006

The assembly of bacteriophage PRD1 proceeds via formation of empty procapsids containing an internal lipid membrane, into which the linear double-stranded DNA genome is subsequently packaged. The packaging ATPase P9 and other putative packaging proteins have been shown to be located at a unique vertex of the PRD1 capsid. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of a suppressor-sensitive PRD1 mutant deficient in the unique vertex protein P6. Protein P6 was found to be an essential part of the PRD1 packaging machinery; its absence leads to greatly reduced packaging efficiency. Lack of P6 was not found to affect particle assembly, because in the P6-deficient mutant infection, wild-type (wt) amounts of particles were produced, although most were empty. P6 was determined not to be a specificity factor, as the few filled particles seen in the P6-deficient infection contained only PRD1-specific DNA. The presence of P6 was not necessary for retention of DNA in the capsid once packaging had occurred, and P6-deficient DNA-containing particles were found to be stable and infectious, albeit not as infectious as wt PRD1 virions. A packaging model for bacteriophage PRD1, based on previous results and those obtained in this study, is presented.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, 40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Phone: 358-14-2602272. Fax: 358-14-2602221. E-mail: bamford{at}cc.jyu.fi.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 3 January 2007.

Journal of Virology, March 2007, p. 2970-2979, Vol. 81, No. 6
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02211-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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