Chlorella virus PBCV-1 encodes a functional homospermidine synthase

Annette Kaiser; Michael Vollmert; Dorothea Tholl; Michael V. Graves; James R. Gurnon; Weimei Xing; Amber D. Lisec; Kenneth W. Nickerson; James L. Van Etten

doi:10.1006/viro.1999.9972

Chlorella virus PBCV-1 encodes a functional homospermidine synthase

Annette Kaiser, Michael Vollmert, Dorothea Tholl, Michael V. Graves, James R. Gurnon, Weimei Xing, Amber D. Lisec, Kenneth W. Nickerson, James L. Van Etten

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sequence analysis of the 330-kb genome of chlorella virus Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1) revealed an open reading frame, A237R, that encodes a protein with 34% amino acid identity to homospermidine synthase from Rhodopseudomonas viridis. Expression of the a237r gene product in Escherichia coli established that the recombinant enzyme catalyzes the NAD⁺-dependent formation of homospermidine from two molecules of putrescine. The a237r gene is expressed late in PBCV-1 infection. Both uninfected and PBCV-1-infected chlorella, as well as PBCV-1 virions, contain homospermidine, along with the more common polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine. The total number of polyamine molecules per virion (~539) is too small to significantly neutralize the virus double-stranded DNA (>660,000 nucleotides). Consequently, the biological significance of the homospermidine synthase gene is unknown. However, the gene is widespread among the chlorella viruses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a virus encoding an enzyme involved in polyamine biosynthesis.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	254-262
Number of pages	9
Journal	Virology
Volume	263
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1006/viro.1999.9972
State	Published - Oct 10 1999

Keywords

Chlorella viruses
DsDNA virus
Homospermidine
Homospermidine synthase
Ornithine decarboxylase
PBCV-1
Phycodnaviridae
Polyamines

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Virology

Access to Document

10.1006/viro.1999.9972

Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Chlorella virus PBCV-1 encodes a functional homospermidine synthase'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this

@article{08b0ed4d7c234b348b493bf2b958263d,

title = "Chlorella virus PBCV-1 encodes a functional homospermidine synthase",

abstract = "Sequence analysis of the 330-kb genome of chlorella virus Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1) revealed an open reading frame, A237R, that encodes a protein with 34% amino acid identity to homospermidine synthase from Rhodopseudomonas viridis. Expression of the a237r gene product in Escherichia coli established that the recombinant enzyme catalyzes the NAD+-dependent formation of homospermidine from two molecules of putrescine. The a237r gene is expressed late in PBCV-1 infection. Both uninfected and PBCV-1-infected chlorella, as well as PBCV-1 virions, contain homospermidine, along with the more common polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine. The total number of polyamine molecules per virion (~539) is too small to significantly neutralize the virus double-stranded DNA (>660,000 nucleotides). Consequently, the biological significance of the homospermidine synthase gene is unknown. However, the gene is widespread among the chlorella viruses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a virus encoding an enzyme involved in polyamine biosynthesis.",

keywords = "Chlorella viruses, DsDNA virus, Homospermidine, Homospermidine synthase, Ornithine decarboxylase, PBCV-1, Phycodnaviridae, Polyamines",

author = "Annette Kaiser and Michael Vollmert and Dorothea Tholl and Graves, {Michael V.} and Gurnon, {James R.} and Weimei Xing and Lisec, {Amber D.} and Nickerson, {Kenneth W.} and {Van Etten}, {James L.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Dwight Burbank for technical assistance; Ludger Witte, Dieter Strack, and Ron Cerny for performing mass spectrometry analyses; and Seymour Cohen, Les Lane, and Mike Nelson for helpful discussions. This investigation was supported by grants from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (A.K.), the University of Nebraska Biotechnology Center (K.W.N. and J.V.E.), Nebraska Corn Board (K.W.N.), and Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research (K.W.N.) and by U.S. Public Health Service Grant GM-32441 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (J.V.E.).",

year = "1999",

month = oct,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1006/viro.1999.9972",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "263",

pages = "254--262",

journal = "Virology",

issn = "0042-6822",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Chlorella virus PBCV-1 encodes a functional homospermidine synthase

AU - Kaiser, Annette

AU - Vollmert, Michael

AU - Tholl, Dorothea

AU - Graves, Michael V.

AU - Gurnon, James R.

AU - Xing, Weimei

AU - Lisec, Amber D.

AU - Nickerson, Kenneth W.

AU - Van Etten, James L.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Dwight Burbank for technical assistance; Ludger Witte, Dieter Strack, and Ron Cerny for performing mass spectrometry analyses; and Seymour Cohen, Les Lane, and Mike Nelson for helpful discussions. This investigation was supported by grants from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (A.K.), the University of Nebraska Biotechnology Center (K.W.N. and J.V.E.), Nebraska Corn Board (K.W.N.), and Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research (K.W.N.) and by U.S. Public Health Service Grant GM-32441 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (J.V.E.).

PY - 1999/10/10

Y1 - 1999/10/10

N2 - Sequence analysis of the 330-kb genome of chlorella virus Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1) revealed an open reading frame, A237R, that encodes a protein with 34% amino acid identity to homospermidine synthase from Rhodopseudomonas viridis. Expression of the a237r gene product in Escherichia coli established that the recombinant enzyme catalyzes the NAD+-dependent formation of homospermidine from two molecules of putrescine. The a237r gene is expressed late in PBCV-1 infection. Both uninfected and PBCV-1-infected chlorella, as well as PBCV-1 virions, contain homospermidine, along with the more common polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine. The total number of polyamine molecules per virion (~539) is too small to significantly neutralize the virus double-stranded DNA (>660,000 nucleotides). Consequently, the biological significance of the homospermidine synthase gene is unknown. However, the gene is widespread among the chlorella viruses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a virus encoding an enzyme involved in polyamine biosynthesis.

AB - Sequence analysis of the 330-kb genome of chlorella virus Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1) revealed an open reading frame, A237R, that encodes a protein with 34% amino acid identity to homospermidine synthase from Rhodopseudomonas viridis. Expression of the a237r gene product in Escherichia coli established that the recombinant enzyme catalyzes the NAD+-dependent formation of homospermidine from two molecules of putrescine. The a237r gene is expressed late in PBCV-1 infection. Both uninfected and PBCV-1-infected chlorella, as well as PBCV-1 virions, contain homospermidine, along with the more common polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine. The total number of polyamine molecules per virion (~539) is too small to significantly neutralize the virus double-stranded DNA (>660,000 nucleotides). Consequently, the biological significance of the homospermidine synthase gene is unknown. However, the gene is widespread among the chlorella viruses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a virus encoding an enzyme involved in polyamine biosynthesis.

KW - Chlorella viruses

KW - DsDNA virus

KW - Homospermidine

KW - Homospermidine synthase

KW - Ornithine decarboxylase

KW - PBCV-1

KW - Phycodnaviridae

KW - Polyamines

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033543972&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0033543972&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1006/viro.1999.9972

DO - 10.1006/viro.1999.9972

M3 - Article

C2 - 10544099

AN - SCOPUS:0033543972

VL - 263

SP - 254

EP - 262

JO - Virology

JF - Virology

SN - 0042-6822

IS - 1

ER -