The picornavirus family of viruses includes poliovirus, the causative agent of paralytic polio and coxsackievirus, which is responsible for viral-heart-disease. Picornaviruses contain a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome replicated by 3Dpol, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP). Crystal structures of 3Dpol from multiple picornaviruses have shown a conserved polymerase fold analogous to a “right hand” composed of fingers, palm and thumb domains. These crystal structures also identified unique regions in the fingers domain whose function in 3Dpol were unknown. Through biochemical kinetic analysis we have now determined the purpose of these regions, and their effects on the catalytic cycle of 3Dpol.Great Minds in Research - Honorable Mention
