The Levivirus coat protein forms the bacteriophage coat that encapsidates the viral RNA. 180 copies of this protein form the virion shell. The MS2 bacteriophage coat protein controls two distinct processes: sequence-specific RNA encapsidation and re ...
The Levivirus coat protein forms the bacteriophage coat that encapsidates the viral RNA. 180 copies of this protein form the virion shell. The MS2 bacteriophage coat protein controls two distinct processes: sequence-specific RNA encapsidation and repression of replicase translation-by binding to an RNA stem-loop structure of 19 nucleotides containing the initiation codon of the replicase gene. The binding of a coat protein dimer to this hairpin shuts off synthesis of the viral replicase, switching the viral replication cycle to virion assembly rather than continued replication [2].
