Novel cross-strand three-purine stack of the highly conserved 5'-GA/AAG-5' internal loop at the 3'-end termini of Parvovirus genomes.

We have used two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR), distance geometry (DG) and molecular dynamics / energy minimization (MD/EM) methods to study a 2 x 3 asymmetric internal loop structure of the highly conserved 5'-(GA)/(AAG)-5' bubble' present at the 3'-end hairpin of the single-stranded DNA genome of parvoviruses. This motif contains an unpaired adenosine stacked between two bracketed sheared G.A pairs. However, the phenomenal cross-strand G-G and A-A stacking in the tandem sheared G.A pairs has undergone considerable change. A novel three-purine stacking pattern is observed instead; the inserted A18 base is completely un-stacked from its neighboring G 17 and A 19 bases, but well stacked with the cross-strand A4 and G3 bases to form a novel A4/A18/G3 stack that is different from the double G/G, A/A or quadruple G/G/G/G stack present in the 5'-(GA)/(AG)-5' or 5'-(GGA)/(AGG)-5' motifs. Unlike the bulged purine residue that usually causes about 20 degree kink in the helical axis of the parent helix when bracketed by canonical G.C or A.T base pairs, no significant kink is observed in the present helix containing a bulged-adenine that is bracketed by sheared G.A pairs. The phosphodiesters connecting G3-A4 and G17-A18 residues adopt unusual zeta torsional angles close to the trans domain, yet that connecting A18-A19 residues resumes the normal zeta(g-) value. The well structured '5'-(GAA)/(AG)-5" internal loop in the parvovirus genomes explains its resistance to single-strand specific endonuclease susceptibility.