Expression, purification, and functional characterization of a stable helicase domain from a tomato mosaic virus replication protein

Tomato mosaic virus (genus, Tobamovirus) is a member of the alphavirus-like superfamily of positive-strand RNA viruses, which include many plant and animal viruses of agronomical and clinical importance. The RNA of alphavirus-like superfamily members encodes replication-associated proteins that contain a putative superfamily 1 helicase domain. To date, a viral three-dimensional superfamily 1 helicase structure has not been solved. For the study reported herein, we expressed tomato mosaic virus replication proteins that contain the putative helicase domain and additional upstream N-terminal residues in Escherichia coli. We found that an additional 155 residues upstream of the N-terminus of the helicase domain were necessary for stability. We developed an efficient procedure for the expression and purification of this fragment and have examined factors that affect its stability. Finally, we also showed that the stable fragment has nucleoside 5'-triphosphatase activity.