Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of protein 14 from Sulfolobus islandicus filamentous virus (SIFV)

The thermo- and acido-stable ORF-99 from the archaeal virus AFV1

Acidianus Filamentous Virus 1 (AFV1), isolated from acidic hot springs, is an enveloped lipid-containing archaeal filamentous virus with a linear double-stranded DNA genome. It infects Acidianus, which is a hyperthermostable archaea growing at 85 degrees C and acidic pHs, below pH 3. AFV1-99, a protein of 99 amino acids of unknown function, has homologues in the archaeal virus families Lipothrixviridae and Rudiviridae. We determined the crystal structure of AFV1-99 at 2.05 A resolution. AFV1-99 has a new fold, is hyperthermostable (up to 95 degrees C) and resists to extreme pH (between pH 0 and 11) and to the combination of high temperature (95 degrees C) and low pH (pH 0). It possesses characteristics of hyperthermostable proteins, such as a high content of charged residues.

Crystal structure of AFV3-109, a highly conserved protein from crenarchaeal viruses

The extraordinary morphologies of viruses infecting hyperthermophilic archaea clearly distinguish them from bacterial and eukaryotic viruses. Moreover, their genomes code for proteins that to a large extend have no related sequences in the extent databases. However, a small pool of genes is shared by overlapping subsets of these viruses, and the most conserved gene, exemplified by the ORF109 of the Acidianus Filamentous Virus 3, AFV3, is present on genomes of members of three viral familes, the Lipothrixviridae, Rudiviridae, and "Bicaudaviridae", as well as of the unclassified Sulfolobus Turreted Icosahedral Virus, STIV. We present here the crystal structure of the protein (Mr = 13.1 kD, 109 residues) encoded by the AFV3 ORF 109 in two different crystal forms at 1.5 and 1.3 A resolution. The structure of AFV3-109 is a five stranded beta-sheet with loops on one side and three helices on the other. It forms a dimer adopting the shape of a cradle that encompasses the best conserved regions of the sequence. No protein with a related fold could be identified except for the ortholog from STIV1, whose structure was deposited at the Protein Data Bank. We could clearly identify a well bound glycerol inside the cradle, contacting exclusively totally conserved residues. This interaction was confirmed in solution by fluorescence titration. Although the function of AFV3-109 cannot be deduced directly from its structure, structural homology with the STIV1 protein, and the size and charge distribution of the cavity suggested it could interact with nucleic acids. Fluorescence quenching titrations also showed that AFV3-109 interacts with dsDNA. Genomic sequence analysis revealed bacterial homologs of AFV3-109 as a part of a putative previously unidentified prophage sequences in some Firmicutes.