Positively charged termini of the L2 minor capsid protein are necessary for papillomavirus infection

Coexpression of bovine papillomavirus L1 with L2 mutants lacking either eig ht N-terminal or nine C-terminal amino acids that encode positively charged domains resulted in wild-type levels of viral genome encapsidation. Despit e wild-type binding to the cell surface, the resulting virions were noninfe ctious. An L2 mutant encoding a scrambled version of the nine C-terminal re sidues restored infectivity, in contrast to an L2 mutant encoding a scrambl ed version of the N-terminal residues.