GENE-A32 PRODUCT OF VACCINIA VIRUS MAY BE AN ATPASE INVOLVED IN VIRAL-DNA PACKAGING AS INDICATED BY SEQUENCE COMPARISONS WITH OTHER PUTATIVE VIRAL ATPASES
Ev. Koonin et al., GENE-A32 PRODUCT OF VACCINIA VIRUS MAY BE AN ATPASE INVOLVED IN VIRAL-DNA PACKAGING AS INDICATED BY SEQUENCE COMPARISONS WITH OTHER PUTATIVE VIRAL ATPASES, Virus genes, 7(1), 1993, pp. 89-94
Statistically significant sequence similarity was revealed between the
gene A32 product of vaccinia virus (VV), gene I products (gpI) of fil
amentous single-stranded DNA bacteriophages, and IVa2 gene products of
adenoviruses. Four conserved sequence motifs were delineated, the two
N-proximal of which correspond to the A and B motifs of the purine NT
P-binding pattern. Based on the role of gpI and IVa2 proteins in virio
n morphogenesis, and on the conservation of the NTP-binding pattern in
these proteins, we hypothesize that the A32 gene product might be inv
olved in an ATP-consuming function in VV virion formation, e.g., packa
ging of the DNA in the virus particle.