Characterization of Tobacco Mosaic Virus Virions and Repolymerized Coat Protein Aggregates in Solution by Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering

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A. L. Ksenofontov^1,a*, M. V. Petoukhov^2,3,b, A. N. Prusov¹, N. V. Fedorova¹, and E. V. Shtykova^2,c

¹Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia

²Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography, Federal Scientific Research Centre “Crystallography and Photonics”, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119333 Moscow, Russia

³Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received November 7, 2019; Revised December 20, 2019; Accepted December 22, 2019

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The structure of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) virions and stacked disk aggregates of TMV coat protein (CP) in solution was analyzed by synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and negative contrast transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TMV CP aggregates had a unique stability but did not have helical symmetry. According to the TEM data, they were stacked disks associated into transversely striated rod-shaped structures 300 to 800 Å long. According to modeling based on the crystallographic model of the 4-layer TMV CP aggregate (PDB: 1EI7), the stacked disks represented hollow cylinders. The calculated SAXS pattern for the disks was compared to the experimental one over the entire measured range. The best correlation with the SAXS data was found for the model with the repeating central pair of discs; the SAXS curves for the stacked disks were virtually identical irrespectively of the protein isolation method. The positions of maxima on the scatter curves could be used as characteristic features of the studied samples; some of the peaks were assigned to the existing elements of the quaternary structure (periodicity of aggregate structure, virion helix pitch). Low-resolution structural data for the repolymerized TMV CP aggregates in solution under conditions similar to natural were produced for the first time. Analysis of such nano-size objects is essential for their application in biomedicine and biotechnology.

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KEY WORDS: TMV, coat protein, stacked disk aggregates, virions, small-angle X-ray scattering

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297920030062

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