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Review
. 2013 Sep 1;5(9):a010199.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a010199.

Poxvirus DNA replication

Affiliations
Review

Poxvirus DNA replication

Bernard Moss. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. .

Abstract

Poxviruses are large, enveloped viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm and encode proteins for DNA replication and gene expression. Hairpin ends link the two strands of the linear, double-stranded DNA genome. Viral proteins involved in DNA synthesis include a 117-kDa polymerase, a helicase-primase, a uracil DNA glycosylase, a processivity factor, a single-stranded DNA-binding protein, a protein kinase, and a DNA ligase. A viral FEN1 family protein participates in double-strand break repair. The DNA is replicated as long concatemers that are resolved by a viral Holliday junction endonuclease.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Poxvirus cytoplasmic factories. HeLa cells were simultaneously infected with two recombinant VACVs. One expresses the A5 core protein fused to cyan fluorescent protein (A5-CFP) and the other expresses the A5 core protein fused to yellow fluorescent protein (A5-YFP). The nuclei (N) and virus factories (F) were stained blue with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). A confocal microscopy image of a single cell in which individual factories arose from separate viruses is shown. (Reprinted, with permission, from Katsafanas and Moss 2007.)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Structure of VACV genomic DNA. (A) Depiction of entire genome and an expansion of the 10-kbp inverted terminal repetition showing tandem direct repeats. (B) Nucleotide sequences of inverted and complementary forms of the terminal loops. (A, Reprinted, with permission, from Moss et al. 1983; B, reprinted, with permission, from Baroudy et al. 1982a.)
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Self-priming model of poxvirus DNA replication. F and S within the hairpin loops refer to the fast and slow electrophoretic mobilities of DNA fragments containing inverted and complementary hairpin sequences. Dashed lines indicate newly synthesized DNA with arrowheads at the 3′ OH ends. Complementary sequences are depicted by upper- and lowercase letters. The resolution site (res) within the concatemer junction is indicated. (Modified from Moss et al. 1983.)

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