# The DNA Packaging Motor of Bacteriophage phi29

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $505,754

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The mechanism of DNA packaging for double-stranded DNA viruses will be studied in the Bacillus
subtilis bacteriophage f29, the most efficient in vitro viral packaging system known. Using an
integrated genetic, biochemical, computational and structural approach, we will characterize protein
conformational change and movement in the transiently assembled packaging motor during DNA
encapsidation. The mechanism of packaging in f29 will serve as a model for animal virus packaging
in the analogous herpesvirus and adenovirus systems, and aid in the search for new antiviral
therapies. Due to similarities between the f29 ATPase and other ring translocases, insights gained
from the study of f29 packaging will also provide insight into the basic principles of macromolecular
motor function in higher organisms. To interrogate the mechanism of DNA packaging we will: 1.
determine the molecular basis for force generation of the packaging motor; 2. elucidate the
mechanism of nucleotide cycling for a complex multimeric ATPase; and 3. describe the nature of
intermolecular communication that coordinates the action of a biological nanomotor.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10925351
- **Project number:** 5R01GM122979-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul James Jardine
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $505,754
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10925351

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10925351, The DNA Packaging Motor of Bacteriophage phi29 (5R01GM122979-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10925351. Licensed CC0.

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