Structure and Function of the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase

Constitutive phosphorylation of the vesicular stomatitis virus P protein modulates polymerase complex formation but is not essential for transcription or replication

“…However, our findings suggest that constitutive phosphorylation, rather than being essential for this process, more likely increases the rate of P protein self-association. Our conclusion is consistent with an earlier report showing that the New Jersey P protein produced in bacteria appears to multimerize (possibly to a dimer) with- out prior phosphorylation, but only at high P concentrations (6). More recently, Das et al (15) showed that the ␣-helical content of this New Jersey P protein, measured from its circular dichroism spectrum, increases in concert with phosphorylation-induced multimerization.…”