Mutational analysis of the nucleic acid-binding 17 kDa phosphoprotein of potato leafroll luteovirus identifies an amphipathic alpha-helix as the domain for protein/protein interactions.

The 17 kDa protein (pr17) of potato leafroll luteovirus is translated from a subgenomic PLRV RNA by internal translation initiation and binds to single-stranded nucleic acids (E. Tacke, D. Prüfer, J. Schmitz, and E. Rohde, 1991, J. Gen. Virol. 72, 2035-2038). Chemical crosslinking of in vitro expressed pr17 provided evidence for the preferential formation of pr17 homodimers which were also detected in PLRV-infected potato plants and isolated from potato lines expressing the PLRV pr17 transgene. Mutation analysis identified an amphipathic alpha-helix within the acidic amino-terminus of pr17 which acts as the domain for protein/protein interactions. Pr17 was predominantly associated with subcellular fractions enriched for nuclei, chloroplasts, mitochondria, and membranous structures. In addition it was shown that pr17 was phosphorylated in planta and that this modification did not inhibit binding of the protein to nucleic acids.