Co-expression of four baculovirus proteins, IE1, LEF3, P143, and PP31, elicits a cellular chromatin-containing reticulate structure in the nuclei of uninfected cells

Abstract

Baculovirus DNA replication, transcription, and nucleocapsid assembly occur within a subnuclear structure called the virogenic stroma (VS) that consists of two subcompartments. Specific components of the VS sub-compartments have not been identified except for PP31, a DNA-binding protein that localizes specifically to the electron-dense region of VS. Here, we investigate the dynamic structure of VS using a GFP-tagged PP31 molecule (GFP-PP31). GFP-PP31 localizes to the VS throughout the course of infection. At later times post-infection, a PP31 reticulum distributed within VS was also apparent, indicating that VS sub-compartments compose a reticulate structure. Transient expression of PP31 with the viral proteins, IE1, LEF3, and P143, in uninfected cells resulted in the formation of a reticulate structure containing cellular chromatin and the spatial arrangements of the four proteins within the induced reticulum were the same as those within VS reticulum, suggesting that the two reticula are formed by a similar mechanism.