Structural biologists Juha Huiskonen and Sarah Butcher from the Academy of Finland Virus Research Centre of Excellence, University of Helsinki, have determined the structure of the double-stranded RNA virus (phi6) in co-operation with their colleagues in the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). The virus in question is a bacteriophage, which means that instead of eukaryotic cells it infects bacteria. To the researchers' surprise, its structure turned out to be very similar to human viruses, such as rotavirus. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhoea, particularly in neonatal babies and young children. Diarrhoea is one of the main causes of infant mortality in developing countries.
By studying the viruses in bacteria, researchers can determine various characteristics about the life cycle of viruses that are much harder to study using dangerous human viruses. The newly described structure of the bacteriophage furthers researchersâ€
The similarity of double-stranded RNA viruses that infect different organisms is probably due to their mutual, primitive origin. During evolution, the basic structure has been maintained even though the gene sequences of the viruses have changed dramatically. Corresponding similarities between different viruses have earlier been detected between a double-stranded DNA bacteriophage and an archaeal virus.
The structure of the bacteriophage was studied with electron microscopy and computational methods.
The article was published in the science journal Structure on 14 June 2006. Further information:
Group Leader, Academy Researcher Sarah Butcher, Ph.D.
tel. 358-9-19159563
sarah.butcher@helsinki.fi
Researcher Juha Huiskonen, Ph.D.
tel. 358-9-191-57940
juha.huiskonen@helsinki.fi
www.biocenter.helsinki.fi/bi/butcher
www.helsinki.fi/~huiskone
www.helsinki.fi/virres
Structure