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P2, the major capsid protein of bacteriophage PM2, adopts the double β-barrel fold characteristic of the PRD1-adenoviral lineage. The 2.5 Å resolution X-ray data obtained by analysis of the two major lattices of a multiple crystal of P2 were phased by molecular replacement, using as a search model structure factors to 7.6 Å resolution obtained from electron density cut from the map of the entire PM2 virion. Phase extension to 2.5 Å resolution used solely sixfold cycling averaging and solvent flattening. This represents an atypical example of an oligomeric protein for which the structure has been determined at high resolution by bootstrapping from low-resolution initial phases.

P3 has been imaged with X-ray crystallography to reveal a trimeric molecule with strikingly similar characteristics to hexon, the major coat protein of adenovirus. The structure of native P3 has now been extended to 1.65 A resolution (R(work) = 19.0% and R(free) = 20.8%). The new high-resolution model shows that P3 forms crystals through hydrophobic patches solvated by 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol molecules. It reveals details of how the molecule's high stability may be achieved through ordered solvent in addition to intra- and intersubunit interactions. Of particular importance is a 'puddle' at the top of the molecule containing a four-layer deep hydration shell that cross-links a complex structural feature formed by 'trimerization loops'. These loops also link subunits by extending over a neighbor to reach the third subunit in the trimer. As each subunit has two eight-stranded viral jelly rolls, the trimer has a pseudo-hexagonal shape to allow close packing in its 240 hexavalent capsid positions. Flexible regions in P3 facilitate these interactions within the capsid and with the underlying membrane. A selenometh-ionine P3 derivative, with which the structure was solved, has been refined to 2.2 A resolution (R(work) = 20.1% and R(free) = 22.8%). The derivatized molecule is essentially unchanged, although synchrotron radiation has the curious effect of causing it to rotate about its threefold axis. P3 is a second example of a trimeric 'double-barrel' protein that forms a stable building block with optimal shape for constructing a large icosahedral viral capsid. A major difference is that hexon has long variable loops that distinguish different adenovirus species. The short loops in P3 and the severe constraints of its various interactions explain why the PRD1 family has highly conserved coat proteins.