O. Guerra-peraza et al., Interaction of the Cauliflower mosaic virus coat protein with the pregenomic RNA leader, J VIROLOGY, 74(5), 2000, pp. 2067-2072
Using the yeast three-hybrid system, the interaction of the Cauliflower mos
aic virus (CaMV) pregenomic 35S RNA (pgRNA) leader with the viral coat prot
ein, its precursor,land a series of derivatives was studied. The purine-ric
h domain in the center of the pgRNA leader was found to specifically intera
ct with the coat protein. The zinc finger motif of the coat protein and the
preceding basic domain were essential for this interaction. Removal of the
N-terminal portion of the basic domain led to loss of specificity but did
not affect the strength of the interaction. Mutations of the zinc finger mo
tif abolished not only the interaction with the RNA but also viral infectiv
ity. In the presence of the very acidic C-terminal domain, which is part of
the preprotein but is not present in the mature CP, the interaction with t
he RNA was undetectable.