title: Order and disorder in crystals of hexameric NTPases from dsRNA bacteriophages.
abstract: The packaging of genomic RNA in members of the Cystoviridae is performed by P4, a hexameric protein with NTPase activity. Across family members such as Phi6, Phi8 and Phi13, the P4 proteins show low levels of sequence identity, but presumably have similar atomic structures. Initial structure-determination efforts for P4 from Phi6 and Phi8 were hampered by difficulties in obtaining crystals that gave ordered diffraction. Diffraction from crystals of full-length P4 showed a variety of disorder and anisotropy. Subsequently, crystals of Phi13 P4 were obtained which yielded well ordered diffraction to 1.7 A. Comparison of the packing arrangements of P4 hexamers in different crystal forms and analysis of the disorder provides insights into the flexibility of this family of proteins, which might be an integral part of their biological function.
authors.affiliation: Division of Structural Biology, The Henry Wellcome Building for Genomic Medicine, Oxford University, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, England.
authors.forename: Erika J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grimes
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malby
authors.forename: Geoffrey C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.forename: Denis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Kainov
authors.forename: Jarmo T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Juuti
authors.forename: Eugene V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Makeyev
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tuma
authors.forename: Dennis H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bamford
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Stuart
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D017126:Bacteriophage phi 6 / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D003460:Crystallization; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase