Dynamic and geometric analyses of Nudaurelia capensis ω virus maturation reveal the energy landscape of particle transitions

• DOI: 10.1002/jmr.2354
• Publication Date: 2014-02-11T02:57:25Z
• Authors: Jinghua Tang; Bradley M. Kearney; Qiu Wang; Peter C. Doerschuk; Timothy S. Baker; John E. Johnson
• Keywords: Cleavage (geology); Energy landscape; Particle (ecology)

Quasi‐equivalent viruses that infect animals and bacteria require a maturation process in which particles transition from initially assembled procapsids to infectious virions. Nudaurelia capensis ω virus (NωV) is T = 4, eukaryotic, single‐stranded ribonucleic acid has proved be an excellent model system for studying the mechanisms of viral maturation. Structures NωV (diameter 480 Å), intermediate (410 mature virion Å) were determined by electron cryo‐microscopy three‐dimensional image reconstruction (cryoEM). The cryoEM density each particle type was analyzed with recently developed maximum likelihood variance (MLV) method characterizing microstates occupied ensemble used reconstructions. procapsid capsid had overall low ( i . e ., uniform populations) while (that not undergone post‐assembly autocatalytic cleavage) roughly two four times first particles. Without cleavage, assume variety microstates, as frustrated subunits cannot reach minimum energy configuration. Geometric analyses subunit coordinates provided quantitative description reorganization during Superposition quasi‐equivalent average root mean square deviation (RMSD) 3 Å RMSD 11 Å, showing differentiate near equivalent environments strikingly non‐equivalent Autocatalytic cleavage clearly required reorganized state stability infectivity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.