RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Melbournevirus-encoded histone doublets are recruited to virus particles and form destabilized nucleosome-like structures
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.04.29.441998
DO 10.1101/2021.04.29.441998
A1 Yang Liu
A1 Chelsea Marie Toner
A1 Nadege Philippe
A1 Sandra Jeudy
A1 Keda Zhou
A1 Samuel Bowerman
A1 Alison White
A1 Garrett Edwards
A1 Chantal Abergel
A1 Karolin Luger
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/29/2021.04.29.441998.abstract
AB The organization of genomic DNA into defined nucleosomes has long been viewed as a hallmark of eukaryotes. This paradigm has been challenged by the identification of ‘minimalist’ histones in archaea, and more recently by the discovery of genes that encode fused remote homologs of the four eukaryotic histones in Marseilleviridae, a subfamily of giant viruses that infect amoebae. We demonstrate that viral doublet histones localize to the cytoplasmic viral factories after virus infection, and ultimately to mature virions. CryoEM structures of viral nucleosome-like particles show strong similarities to eukaryotic nucleosomes, despite the limited sequence identify. The unique connectors that link the histone chains contribute to the observed instability of viral nucleosomes, and some histone tails assume structural roles. Our results further expand the range of ‘organisms’ that have nucleosomes and suggest a specialized function of histones in the biology of these unusual viruses.One Sentence Summary Some large DNA viruses encode fused histone doublets that are targeted to viral factories and assemble into open nucleosome-like structures.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.YLconceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing (Original draft, review and editing), visualization, supervisionCMTMethodology; Validation; Formal Analysis; Investigation; Data curation; Writing (Review & Editing); VisualizationNPinvestigation (in vivo data), data analysisSJinvestigation (in vivo data), data analysisKZMethodology; Validation; Formal Analysis; Data curation; Writing; VisualizationSBMethodology; Software; Formal Analysis; Investigation; Data Curation; Writing - Review & Editing; Supervision; Funding AcquisitionAWinvestigation, formal analysis, data curationGEinvestigation, formal analysis, data curationCAConceptualization, formal analysis, writing (discussion and editing), Supervision; Project Administration; Funding AcquisitionKLConceptualization; Writing (Original Draft; Review & Editing); Supervision; Project Administration; Funding Acquisition