Micro Seminar Series. Peter Tattersall, Yale University. "Capsid Cylinders and DNA Hairpins Play Pivotal Roles in Parvovirus Infection."
To schedule a meeting with Dr. Tattersall, please visit: or email: Tammi Duzan.
The parvoviral virion is a compact and precise nano-machine that has evolved to protect the single-stranded viral genome in the extracellular environment and to deliver it into the host cell nucleus. There the virion remains sequestered until the cell enters S-phase, whereupon it uncoats and establishes a duplex DNA transcription complex that expresses the non-structural gene cassette.
Essential features of this nano-machine are cylindrical portals that surround each five-fold icosahedral symmetry axis of the capsid and complex hairpin structures at each end of the viral genome. We will consider the roles of the five-fold cylinders in packaging and uncoating the genome, and in guiding the virion through the entry process. Recently we have found that the two ears of the hairpin structure at the left-hand end of the genome perform essential functions both in genome encapsidation and in setting up the initial viral transcription complex required for successful take-over the cell’s macromolecular metabolism. Implications of these interactions will be explored.
- Tuesday March 05, 2013 04:00 PM
- Tuesday March 05, 2013 05:00 PM
- Myers Hall 130
- Department of Biology
- More Contact Info
- Hosted by Pranav Danthi
- Other Info
- Refreshments will be served prior to seminar.
- Contact Email