We report the first atomic resolution structure of an insect virus determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Black beetle virus has a bipartite RNA genome encapsulated in a single particle. The capsid contains 180 protomers arranged on a T = 3 surface lattice. The quaternary organization of the protomers is similar to that observed in the T = 3 plant virus structures. The protomers consist of a basic, crystallographically disordered amino terminus (64 residues), a beta-barrel as seen in other animal and plant virus subunits, an outer protrusion composed predominantly of beta-sheet and formed by three large insertions between strands of the barrel, and a carboxy terminal domain composed of two distorted helices lying inside the shell. The outer surfaces of quasi-threefold related protomers form trigonal pyramidyl protrusions. A cleavage site, located 44 residues from the carboxy terminus, lies within the central cavity of the protein shell. The structural motif observed in BBV (a shell composed of 180 eight-stranded antiparallel beta-barrels) is common to all nonsatellite spherical viruses whose structures have so far been solved. This highly conserved shell architecture suggests a common origin for the coat protein of spherical viruses, while the primitive genome structure of BBV suggests that this insect virus represents an early stage in the evolution of spherical viruses from cellular genes.

Extracellular alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity (APA) is important for algal phosphorus (P) acquisition in P-limited freshwater ecosystems and is often used as an indicator of P deficiency. APA allows access to organic P (monophosphate esters), but the regulation of APA in response to availability of both PO 43) and organic P is poorly characterized. This study aimed to examine the regulation of APA in freshwater Cladophora-epiphyte assemblages in response to PO 43) and a hydrolyzable organic P source, and for the first time to apply enzyme linked fluorescence (ELF) to localize APA within freshwater macroalgal-epiphyte assemblages. In response to elevated PO 43) concentrations, a component of net APA was suppressed, but there was also a constitutive APA, which was maintained even after prolonged exposure to nearly 1,000 lM PO 43) and saturation of internal P pools. When supplied with organic glycerol P as the sole P source, the algae maintained APA in excess of needs for supplying PO 43) for uptake, resulting in PO 43) release into the medium. Constitutive APA may be adaptive to growth under chronic P limitation in oligotrophic freshwater habitats. Excess APA and release of PO 43) could benefit different algal and bacterial partners within assemblages. APA in both Cladophora sp. and epiphytic algae was localized with ELF only when ethanol fixation was omitted. In algal subsamples exposed to different P treatments, there was no correlation between bulk APA (using 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate [MUP] substrate) and % cell labeling with ELF, suggesting that ELF labeling of APA was at best semiquantitative in the algal assemblages.

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