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Temperature and pH dependence of DNA ejection from archaeal lemon-shaped virus His1

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Abstract

The archaeal virus His1 isolated from a hypersaline environment infects an extremely halophilic archaeon Haloarcula hispanica. His1 features a lemon-shaped capsid, which is so far found only in archaeal viruses. This unique capsid can withstand high salt concentrations, and can transform into a helical tube, which in turn is resistant to extremely harsh conditions. Hypersaline environments exhibit a wide range of temperatures and pH conditions, which present an extra challenge to their inhabitants. We investigated the influence of pH and temperature on DNA ejection from His1 virus using single-molecule fluorescence experiments. The observed number of ejecting viruses is constant in pH 5 to 9, while the ejection process is suppressed at pH below 5. Similarly, the number of ejections within 15–42 °C shows only a minor increase around 25–37 °C. The maximum velocity of single ejected DNA increases with temperature, in qualitative agreement with the continuum model of dsDNA ejection.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Academy of Finland (grants 271413 and 272853) and the University of Helsinki for the support to EU ESFRI Instruct Centre for Virus Production (ICVIR) used in this study. This study was supported by Academy Professor (Academy of Finland) funding grants 283072 and 255342 (D.H.B.). K.J.H. was supported by the Graduate School of Chemical Sensors and Microanalytical systems (CHEMSEM) and Ruth and Nils-Erik Stenbäck’s foundation. We thank Helin Veskiväli for excellent technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    K. J. Hanhijärvi & E. Hæggström

  2. Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    G. Ziedaite

  3. Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    D. H. Bamford

Authors
  1. K. J. Hanhijärvi
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  2. G. Ziedaite
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  3. E. Hæggström
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  4. D. H. Bamford
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Correspondence to K. J. Hanhijärvi.

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Hanhijärvi, K.J., Ziedaite, G., Hæggström, E. et al. Temperature and pH dependence of DNA ejection from archaeal lemon-shaped virus His1. Eur Biophys J 45, 435–442 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-016-1112-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-016-1112-7

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