ArticleJournal of molecular biology2007
Measurements of single DNA molecule packaging dynamics in bacteriophage lambda reveal high forces, high motor processivity, and capsid transformations.
Article in Journal of molecular biology, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
106 citing papers in PubMed, 172 citations in OpenAlex.
- Something old, something new? Herpesvirus genome packaging examined in light of lessons from the tailed bacteriophages.Journal of virology · 2026Review
- Cell-free synthesis and characterization of Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Shigella-specific bacteriophages.Microbial cell factories · 2026Article
- Dynamics of viral self-assembly, viral genome packaging, and virus-cell interactions studied by optical tweezers.European biophysics journal : EBJ · 2026Review
- Bacteriophage T4 genome packaging: mechanism and application.EcoSal Plus · 2025Review
- Regulation of the ordinal DNA translocation cycle in bacteriophage Φ29 through trans-subunit interactions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Single-molecule measurements of bacteriophage lambda DNA packaging using purified terminase motor proteins and E. coli integration host factor.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Methods for Studying Motor-Driven Viral DNA Packaging in Bacteriophages phi29, Lambda, and T4 via Single DNA Molecule Manipulation and Rapid Solution Exchange.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Article
- DNA packaging by molecular motors: from bacteriophage to human chromosomes.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2024Review
- Temperature-dependent ejection evolution arising from active and passive effects in DNA viruses.Biophysical journal · 2024Article
- Mechanism of Viral DNA Packaging in Phage T4 Using Single-Molecule Fluorescence Approaches.Viruses · 2024Review
- Optical Tweezers to Study Viruses.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2024Review
- Viral Genomic DNA Packaging Machinery.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2024Review
- 'SAXS-osmometer' method provides measurement of DNA pressure in viral capsids and delivers an empirical equation of state.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Role of DNA-DNA sliding friction and nonequilibrium dynamics in viral genome ejection and packaging.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Insights into a viral motor: the structure of the HK97 packaging termination assembly.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- AT-specific DNA visualization revisits the directionality of bacteriophage λ DNA ejection.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Structures of a large prolate virus capsid in unexpanded and expanded states generate insights into the icosahedral virus assembly.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- UL25 Capsid Binding Facilitates Mechanical Maturation of the Herpesvirus Capsid and Allows Retention of Pressurized DNA.Journal of virology · 2021Article
- Atomistic basis of force generation, translocation, and coordination in a viral genome packaging motor.Nucleic acids research · 2021Article
- The PLB measurement for the connector in Phi29 bacteriophage reveals the function of its channel loop.Biophysical journal · 2021Article
46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Molecular motors drive genome packaging into preformed procapsids in many double-stranded (ds)DNA viruses. Here, we present optical tweezers measurements of single DNA molecule packaging in bacteriophage lambda. DNA-gpA-gpNu1 complexes were assembled with recombinant gpA and gpNu1 proteins and tethered to microspheres, and procapsids were attached to separate microspheres. DNA binding and initiation of packaging were observed within a few seconds of bringing these microspheres into proximity in the presence of ATP. The motor was observed to generate greater than 50 picoNewtons (pN) of force, in the same range as observed with bacteriophage phi29, suggesting that high force generation is a common property of viral packaging motors. However, at low capsid filling the packaging rate averaged approximately 600 bp/s, which is 3.5-fold higher than phi29, and the motor processivity was also threefold higher, with less than one slip per genome length translocated. The packaging rate slowed significantly with increasing capsid filling, indicating a buildup of internal force reaching 14 pN at 86% packaging, in good agreement with the force driving DNA ejection measured in osmotic pressure experiments and calculated theoretically. Taken together, these experiments show that the internal force that builds during packaging is largely available to drive subsequent DNA ejection. In addition, we observed an 80 bp/s dip in the average packaging rate at 30% packaging, suggesting that procapsid expansion occurs at this point following the buildup of an average of 4 pN of internal force. In experiments with a DNA construct longer than the wild-type genome, a sudden acceleration in packaging rate was observed above 90% packaging, and much greater than 100% of the genome length was translocated, suggesting that internal force can rupture the immature procapsid, which lacks an accessory protein (gpD).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.