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Functional implications of residues of the B′ motif of geminivirus replication initiator protein in its helicase activity

Geminivirus replication initiator protein (Rep) is a multifunctional viral protein required for replication. During the process of viral replication, Rep acts as a site‐ and strand‐specific endonuclease, ligase, ATPase, and helicase. B' motif and β‐hairpin loop of the geminivirus Rep are conserved and important for Rep‐mediated helicase activity required for viral replication. To dissect the roles of various amino acid residues of the B' motif and β‐hairpin loop of the geminivirus Rep helicase in its process of unwinding DNA, we investigated eight conserved residues near the ATP active site or the ssDNA contact channel. Our strategy was to mutate these residues to alanines and investigate the effects of these mutations on various biochemical activities associated with DNA unwinding. We looked into the ATP binding, ATP hydrolysis, DNA binding, and DNA unwinding activities of the wild‐type and mutant Rep proteins. These investigations showed four residues (Arg279, Asp280, Tyr287, and Pro290) affecting the DNA unwinding activity. A structural model analysis confirmed the B' loop and ssDNA binding loop to be connected through a β‐hairpin structure, suggesting that changes on one loop might affect the other and that these residues function by acting in concert. Viral genomes containing Rep proteins having these mutations in the B' motif did not replicate in planta. Taken together, these results indicated all four residues to be implicated in helicase activity mediated by Rep and demonstrated the significance, for viral replication, of the B' motif and β‐hairpin loop of the C‐terminal region of the Rep protein.