%0 Journal Article %A Lemay, Guy %A Danis, Carole %T Reovirus λ1 Protein: Affinity for Double-stranded Nucleic Acids by a Small Amino-terminal Region of the Protein Independent From the Zinc Finger Motif %D 1994 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 75 %N 11 %P 3261-3266 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-75-11-3261 %I Microbiology Society, %X The reovirus λ1 protein, a major component of the inner capsid, has been shown to exhibit an affinity for dsRNA in a ‘Northwestern’ filter-binding assay. In the present study it was demonstrated that the protein can bind dsDNA as well as dsRNA. A bacterial expression system was used to study the protein region able to bind to nucleic acids. The amino-terminal 187 amino acids of λ1 were fused to the bacterial maltose-binding protein and shown to be sufficient for binding to nucleic acids. The putative zinc finger present on λ1 is not encompassed in this fragment of the protein. Site-directed mutagenesis also indicated that this zinc finger motif is unrelated to binding. In contrast, mutations introduced in a previously suggested nucleotide-binding motif almost completely prevented the binding. These data indicate that the amino-terminal end of λ1, encompassing its nucleotide-binding motif, is involved in the affinity of this protein for nucleic acids. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-75-11-3261