Ty3 reverse transcriptase complexed with an RNA-DNA hybrid shows structural and functional asymmetry

Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2014 Apr;21(4):389-96. doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2785. Epub 2014 Mar 9.

Abstract

Retrotransposons are a class of mobile genetic elements that replicate by converting their single-stranded RNA intermediate to double-stranded DNA through the combined DNA polymerase and ribonuclease H (RNase H) activities of the element-encoded reverse transcriptase (RT). Although a wealth of structural information is available for lentiviral and gammaretroviral RTs, equivalent studies on counterpart enzymes of long terminal repeat (LTR)-containing retrotransposons, from which they are evolutionarily derived, is lacking. In this study, we report the first crystal structure of a complex of RT from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae LTR retrotransposon Ty3 in the presence of its polypurine tract-containing RNA-DNA hybrid. In contrast to its retroviral counterparts, Ty3 RT adopts an asymmetric homodimeric architecture whose assembly is substrate dependent. Moreover, our structure and biochemical data suggest that the RNase H and DNA polymerase activities are contributed by individual subunits of the homodimer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Binding Sites
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • DNA / chemistry*
  • DNA / genetics
  • Dimerization
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / chemistry*
  • RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / physiology
  • Retroelements*
  • Ribonuclease H / chemistry*
  • Ribonuclease H / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / chemistry*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / physiology

Substances

  • Retroelements
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • DNA
  • RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
  • reverse transcriptase Ty3, S cerevisiae
  • Ribonuclease H

Associated data

  • PDB/4OL8