Accessibility and environment probing using cysteine residues introduced along the putative transmembrane domain of the major coat protein of bacteriophage M13.

The major coat protein of the filamentous bacteriophage M13 is located in the inner membrane of host cell Escherichia coli prior to assembly into virions. To identify the transmembrane domain of the coat protein, we have introduced unique cysteine residues along the putative transmembrane domain at position 25, 31, 33, 36, 38, 46, 47, 49, or 50. The mutant major coat protein was solubilized by membrane-mimicking detergents or reconstituted into mixed bilayers of phospholipids. Information about the environmental polarity was deduced from the wavelength of maximum emission, using N-[[(iodoacetyl)-amino)ethyl]-1-sulfonaphthylamine (IAEDANS) attached to the SH groups of the cysteines as a fluorescent probe. Additional information was obtained by determining the accessibility of AEDANS for the fluorescence quencher molecules acrylamide and 5-doxylstearic acid, and the reactivity of the cysteine's sulfhydryl group toward 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB). Our data suggest transmembrane boundaries close to residue 25 and 46, with residue 25 inside the hydrophobic part of the membrane in very close proximity to the membrane-water interface and residue 46 located at the membrane-water interface. Domains of the mutant coat protein which are packed or coated by cholate molecules and various other detergents [except for sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)] are at least similarly packed by phospholipid molecules in bilayers. SDS is a good solubilizing detergent but badly mimics the typical nature of a membrane structure. The overall results are interpreted with respect to the established conformation of the coat protein and its membrane anchoring mechanism.

Efficient reverse transcription of cowpea mosaic virus RNAs.

Conditions are described which give an efficient synthesis of DNA copies of cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) RNAs, using avian myeloblastosis reverse transcriptase and oligo (dT) primers. Maximum incorporation of dAMP into cDNA is attained with 0.4 to 0.8 mM of each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 12 mM Mg++ and 60 mM K+ ion concentrations. High enzyme concentrations (up to 100 units/ml) were used. Under these conditions over 1000 pmoles of dAMP were incorporated per reaction. The cDNA:RNA molar ratio approached 0.3 when 1 pmole CPMV RNA was used as template. The products were heterogeneous but large. Bottom component RNA (about 6000 nucleotides long) was copied into cDNA molecules ranging from about 1000 to 4000 nucleotides, and middle component RNA (about 4000 nucleotides long) was copied into cDNA mostly between 500 and 2000 nucleotides long, on average about 1500, which can be cleaved by restriction endonuclease Hae III into two fragments of 880 and 540 nucleotides.