Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26984529›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2016

Exclusion of small terminase mediated DNA threading models for genome packaging in bacteriophage T4.

Song Gao, Liang Zhang, Venigalla B Rao

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Treatment ofViruses · 2025
    Article
  2. Structural basis for DNA recognition by a viral genome-packaging machine.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Song GaoDepartment of Biology, The Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Avenue Northeast, Washington, DC 20064, USA Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Pharmaceutical Compound Screening, Huaihai Institute of Technology, Lianyungang 222005, China.
Liang ZhangDepartment of Biology, The Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Avenue Northeast, Washington, DC 20064, USA.
Venigalla B RaoDepartment of Biology, The Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Avenue Northeast, Washington, DC 20064, USA rao@cua.edu.
University of America · USCatholic University of America · US

Funding

Structural studies of bacteriophage T4 and their potential medical applicationsR01AI081726 · NIAID · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · PI KUHN, RICHARD J., RAO, VENIGALLA B. · 2010 to 2019
$6.2M
STRUCTURE OF A SMALL SPHERICAL VIRUSR01AI011219 · NIAID · PURDUE UNIVERSITY WEST LAFAYETTE · PI KUHN, RICHARD J. · 1985 to 2020
$2.4M
Structural studies of bacteriophage T4 and their potential medical applicationsR56AI081726 · NIAID · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · PI ROSSMANN, MICHAEL G · 2009 to 2009
$600k
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI011219NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI081726NIAID NIH HHS R56 AI081726
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tailed bacteriophages and herpes viruses use powerful molecular machines to package their genomes. The packaging machine consists of three components: portal, motor (large terminase; TerL) and regulator (small terminase; TerS). Portal, a dodecamer, and motor, a pentamer, form two concentric rings at the special five-fold vertex of the icosahedral capsid. Powered by ATPase, the motor ratchets DNA into the capsid through the portal channel. TerS is essential for packaging, particularly for genome recognition, but its mechanism is unknown and controversial. Structures of gear-shaped TerS rings inspired models that invoke DNA threading through the central channel. Here, we report that mutations of basic residues that line phage T4 TerS (gp16) channel do not disrupt DNA binding. Even deletion of the entire channel helix retained DNA binding and produced progeny phage in vivo On the other hand, large oligomers of TerS (11-mers/12-mers), but not small oligomers (trimers to hexamers), bind DNA. These results suggest that TerS oligomerization creates a large outer surface, which, but not the interior of the channel, is critical for function, probably to wrap viral genome around the ring during packaging initiation. Hence, models involving TerS-mediated DNA threading may be excluded as an essential mechanism for viral genome packaging.

Indexed as

Bacteriophage T4DNA-Binding ProteinsDNA, ViralEndodeoxyribonucleasesEscherichia coliGenome, ViralModels, MolecularProtein BindingProtein Conformation, alpha-HelicalProtein Structure, TertiaryViral ProteinsVirus AssemblyDNA-Binding ProteinsDNA, ViralEndodeoxyribonucleasesGp16 protein, Bacteriophage T4terminaseViral Proteins

Identifiers

PMID26984529
PMCPMC4872099
OpenAlexW2326531985

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.