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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Moffitt JR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2716090 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Moffitt Jeffrey R JR Chemla Yann R YR Aathavan K K Grimes Shelley S Jardine Paul J PJ Anderson Dwight L DL Bustamante Carlos C
Nature 20090107 7228
Homomeric ring ATPases perform many vital and varied tasks in the cell, ranging from chromosome segregation to protein degradation. Here we report the direct observation of the intersubunit coordination and step size of such a ring ATPase, the double-stranded-DNA packaging motor in the bacteriophage phi29. Using high-resolution optical tweezers, we find that packaging occurs in increments of 10 base pairs (bp). Statistical analysis of the preceding dwell times reveals that multiple ATPs bind dur ...[more]