STRUCTURE OF VIRAL RNA AND ITS ROLE IN ASSEMBLY

各种物理和化学技术，其中主要是 X射线晶体学，将应用于一系列T = 1和T = 3 二十面体病毒的最终目标是（1）推导出 病毒内部RNA基因组的详细结构，（2） 鉴定重要的蛋白质-核酸相互作用，和（3） 设计一个病毒体组装和拆卸的模型， 与现有的生物化学和分子生物学数据一致。 的 待研究的病毒是卫星烟草花叶病毒（STMV）， 芜菁黄花叶病毒 （TYMV）、山蚂蝗黄斑驳病毒（DYMV）、番茄花叶病毒 (TAV)，雀麦花叶病毒（BMV），和每个的空衣壳。 最后四个物种 这六个球形病毒代表的病毒 结构是最为人所知的，其中RNA在病毒体中可见， 其中存在最大量的数据和观察。 核心RNA 可以通过蛋白酶消化完整病毒来制备颗粒 并通过准弹性光散射监测它们的展开。 空 可以通过冻融制备衣壳，并用于差傅立叶变换。 合成以揭示RNA结构。 随着化学和 酶探针信息和计算机模拟预测， 对结构和功能的全面理解将会出现。 这 研究是有意义的，因为核酸的构象 目前还不知道球形病毒的组成部分， 目前还没有全面的结构基础， 组装和拆卸。

A variety of physical and chemical techniques, chief among them being X-ray crystallography, will be applied to a series of T = 1 and T = 3 icosahedral viruses with the ultimate objectives of (1) deducing the detailed structure of the RNA genomes inside the viruses, (2) identifying important protein - nucleic acid interactions, and (3) devising a model for the assembly and disassembly of the virions consistent with existing biochemical and molecular biological data. The viruses to be studied are satellite tobacco mosaic virus (STMV), satellite panicum mosaic virus (SPMV), turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV), Desmodium Yellow Mottle Virus (DYMV), Tomato Aspermy Virus (TAV), Bromegrass Mosaic Virus (BMV), and empty capsids of each of the last four species. These six spherical viruses represent viruses whose structures are best known, for which RNA is visible in the virion, and for which the greatest amount of data and observations exist. Core RNA particles can be prepared by protease digestion of the intact viruses and their unfolding monitored by quasi elastic light scattering. Empty capsids can be made by freeze thawing and used in difference Fourier syntheses to reveal RNA structure. With the integration of chemical and enzymatic probe information and predictions from computer modeling a comprehensive understanding of structure and function will emerge. This research is significant because the conformation of the nucleic acid component of no spherical virus is currently known, and there is presently no comprehensive structural basis for the processes of viral assembly and disassembly.