T4 Mutants Research Articles

Bacteriophage T5 Mutants Carrying Deletions in tRNA Gene Region

A new series of heat-stable (st) mutants of bacteriophage T5, which contains deletions in the tRNA gene region, has been isolated. An accurate mapping of the deletion boundaries for more than 30 mutants of phage T5 has been carried out. As a result of the analysis of nucleotide sequences flanking the deleted regions in wild-type phage DNA, it has been shown that they all contain short, direct repeats of different lengths (2-35 nucleotide residues), and that only one repetition is retained in the mutant phage DNA. On the basis of the obtained results, it was suggested that deletion mutants of the phage T5 are formed as a result of illegal recombination occurring with the participation of short repeats in DNA (SHDIR). Based on the example of two mutants, it has been shown that the resistance to thermal inactivation depends on the size of the deleted region.

Bacteriophage T5 Mutants Carrying Deletions in tRNA Gene Region

Bacteriophage T5 Mutants Carrying Deletions in tRNA Gene Region

Knock out of the annexin gene OsAnn3 via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing decreased cold tolerance in rice

Plant annexins are Ca2+-dependent phospholipid-binding proteins and exist as multigene families in plants. They are implicated in the regulation of plant development as well as protection from environmental stresses. In this study, the rice annexin gene OsAnn3 knockout was performed via the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated proteins) mediated genome editing. Thus, mutant plantlets were successfully obtained. We identified cold tolerance phenotype of T1 mutant lines from T0 biallelic mutants using the 4∼6°C for 3 days cold treatment. The results showed that REC (the relative electrical conductivity) of T1 mutant lines was increased, and the survival ratio of T1 mutant lines was decreased dramatically compared with the wild type after the exposure to cold treatment. It was suggested that OsAnn3 was involved in cold tolerance of rice.

Cryo-EM structure of the bacteriophage T4 isometric head at 3.3-Å resolution and its relevance to the assembly of icosahedral viruses

The 3.3-Å cryo-EM structure of the 860-Å-diameter isometric mutant bacteriophage T4 capsid has been determined. WT T4 has a prolate capsid characterized by triangulation numbers (T numbers) Tend = 13 for end caps and Tmid = 20 for midsection. A mutation in the major capsid protein, gp23, produced T=13 icosahedral capsids. The capsid is stabilized by 660 copies of the outer capsid protein, Soc, which clamp adjacent gp23 hexamers. The occupancies of Soc molecules are proportional to the size of the angle between the planes of adjacent hexameric capsomers. The angle between adjacent hexameric capsomers is greatest around the fivefold vertices, where there is the largest deviation from a planar hexagonal array. Thus, the Soc molecules reinforce the structure where there is the greatest strain in the gp23 hexagonal lattice. Mutations that change the angles between adjacent capsomers affect the positions of the pentameric vertices, resulting in different triangulation numbers in bacteriophage T4. The analysis of the T4 mutant head assembly gives guidance to how other icosahedral viruses reproducibly assemble into capsids with a predetermined T number, although the influence of scaffolding proteins is also important.

Two Libyan siblings with beta-ketothiolase deficiency: A case report and review of literature

Beta-ketothiolase (mitochondrial acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase, T2) deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by impaired metabolism of ketones and isoleucine. In this study, we report on the first two siblings with T2 deficiency from Libya. Both siblings presented with ketoacidosis, but the severity and outcomes were quite distinctive. T2 deficiency in patient 1, the younger sister, manifested as recurrent severe episodes of ketoacidosis during the first year of life. She unfortunately experienced neurodevelopmental complications, and died at 14months old, after her 5th episode. In contrast, patient 2, the elder brother, experienced only one ketoacidotic episode at the age of 4years. He recovered uneventfully and has continued to achieve age-appropriate development to date. Upon analysis, the siblings’ blood acylcarnitine profiles had shown increased levels of C5:1 and C5-OH carnitine. ACAT1 mutational analysis revealed patient 2 is homozygotic for a novel mutation–c.674C>A (p.Ala225Glu); this mutation was then confirmed by familial analysis. Transient expression analysis of c.674C>A mutant T2 cDNA revealed neither potassium ion-activated acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase activity, which represents T2 activity, nor mutant T2 protein. Therefore, this mutation is truly pathogenic. Interestingly, the incidence of T2 deficiency may be high among the Arab population. This disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis for unexplained ketoacidosis in children. Patients with T2 deficiency could have a favorable outcome if diagnosed and treated early.

Clinical and Mutational Characterizations of Ten Indian Patients with Beta-Ketothiolase Deficiency.

Beta-ketothiolase deficiency (mitochondrial acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase (T2) deficiency) is an inherited disease of isoleucine catabolism and ketone body utilization caused by ACAT1 mutations. We identified ten Indian patients who manifested with ketoacidotic episodes of variable severity. The patients showed increased urinary excretion of isoleucine-catabolic intermediates: 2-methyl-3-hydroxybutyrate, 2-methylacetoacetate, and tiglylglycine. Six patients had a favorable outcome, one died, and three developed neurodevelopmental sequela. Mutational analysis revealed a common (p.Met193Arg) and four novel (p.Ile323Thr, p.Ala215Asn, c.1012_1015dup, and c.730+1G>A) ACAT1 mutations. Transient expression analyses of wild-type and mutant cDNA were performed at 30, 37, and 40°C. A p.Ile323Thr mutant T2 was detected with relative enzyme activity and protein amount of 20% and 25%, respectively, compared with wild type at 37°C; it was more prevalent at 30°C but ablated at 40°C. These findings showed that p.Ile323Thr had a significant residual T2 activity with temperature-sensitive instability. Neither residual enzymatic activity nor mutant T2 protein was identified in p.Met193Arg, p.Ala215Asn, and c.1012_1015dup mutations using supernatants; however, these mutant T2 proteins were detected in insoluble pellets by immunoblot analysis. Expression analyses confirmed pathogenicity of these mutations. T2 deficiency has a likely high incidence in India and p.Met193Arg may be a common mutation in the Indian population.

CRISPR/Cas9 in rice can induce new mutations in later generations, leading to chimerism and unpredicted segregation of the targeted mutation

CRISPR/Cas9 is a novel tool for targeted mutagenesis and is applicable to plants, including rice. Previous reports on CRISPR/Cas9 in rice have demonstrated that target mutations are transmitted to the next generation in accordance with Mendelian law, but heritability of the target mutation and the role of inherited Cas9 gene have not been fully elucidated. Here, we targeted the rice phytoene desaturase gene, mutants of which exhibit an albino phenotype, by using CRISPR/Cas9 and analyzed segregation of target mutations. Agrobacterium-mediated methods using immature embryos successfully transformed a CRISPR/Cas9 system into five rice cultivars and subsequently induced mutation. Unpredicted segregations, with more mutants than theoretically predicted, were frequently found in T1 plants from monoallelic T0 mutants. Chimeric plants with both biallelic and monoallelic mutated cells were also observed in the T1. Next, we followed segregation of a target mutation in the T2 from monoallelic T1 mutants. When T1 mutants possessed Cas9, unpredicted segregations of the target mutation and chimeric plants were observed again in the T2. When T1 mutants did not possess Cas9, segregation of the target mutations followed Mendelian law and no chimeric plants appeared in the T2. T2 mutants with Cas9 had mutations different from the original ones found in T0. Our results indicated that inherited Cas9 was still active in later generations and could induce new mutations in the progeny, leading to chimerism and unpredicted segregation. We conclude that Cas9 has to be eliminated by segregation in T1 to generate homozygous mutants without chimerism or unpredicted segregation.

PKAMA-ITACHI Vectors for Highly Efficient CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Knockout in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated 9) system is widely used as a tool for genome engineering in various organisms. A complex consisting of Cas9 and single guide RNA (sgRNA) induces a DNA double-strand break in a sequence-specific manner, resulting in knockout. Some binary vectors for CRISPR/Cas9 in plants have been reported, but there is a problem with low efficiency. Here, we present a newly developed, highly efficient CRISPR/Cas9 vector for Arabidopsis thaliana, pKAMA-ITACHI Red (pKIR), harboring the RIBOSOMAL PROTEIN S5 A (RPS5A) promoter to drive Cas9. The RPS5A promoter maintains high constitutive expression at all developmental stages starting from the egg cell and including meristematic cells. Even in the T1 generation, pKIR induced null phenotypes in some genes: PHYTOENE DESATURASE 3 (PDS3), AGAMOUS (AG) and DUO POLLEN 1 (DUO1). Mutations induced by pKIR were carried in the germ cell line of the T1 generation. Surprisingly, in some lines, 100% of the T2 plants had the adh1 (ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE 1) null phenotype, indicating that pKIR strongly induced heritable mutations. Cas9-free T2 mutant plants were obtained by removing T2 seeds expressing a fluorescent marker in pKIR. Our results suggest that the pKIR system is a powerful molecular tool for genome engineering in Arabidopsis.

Testing a proposed paradigm shift in analysis of phage DNA packaging.

ABSTRACTWe argue that a paradigm shift is needed in the analysis of phage DNA packaging. We then test a prediction of the following paradigm shift-engendering hypothesis. The motor of phage DNA packaging has two cycles: (1) the well-known packaging ATPase-driven (type 1) cycle and (2) a proposed back-up, shell expansion/contraction-driven (type 2) cycle that reverses type 1 cycle stalls by expelling accidentally packaged non-DNA molecules. We test the prediction that increasing the cellular concentration of all macromolecules will cause packaging-active capsids to divert to states of hyper-expansion and contraction. We use a directed evolution-derived, 3-site phage T3 mutant, adapted to propagation in concentrated bacterial cytoplasm. We find this prediction correct while discovering novel T3 capsids previously obscure.

Abstract 2058: Identification of a specific RNA aptamer targeting non-small cell lung cancer by in vivo SELEX

Abstract In vivo selection of the RNA aptamers by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) has demonstrated a great targeting tool for diagnostics and treatments in the clinic. In this study, in vivo selection of specific RNA aptamer for cells was established through the use of tumor-bearing xenograft mice injected with human non-small cell lung cancer NCI-H460 cells. Briefly, a synthetic DNA pool was first transcribed in vitro using mutant T7 RNA polymerase (Y639F), which is capable of recognizing 2’-fluoropyrimidines to produce nuclease-resistant RNA. PEGylated RNA library was then constructed to produce stable PEG-RNA molecules. A cDNA library was produced and was further transcribed for an RNA pool. The enriched nuclease-resistant PEG-RNA pool was re-injected into NCI-H460 tumor-bearing mice again. After multiple cycle selections in vivo, the cDNA pool was cloned into T-vector for sequencing analysis for enriched RNA motifs. On round 8 of SELEX selection, an enriched RNA sequence (RA16) was identified at a frequency of 21.2%. The RA16 preparation was further enriched up to 94.7% on round 11. To characterize the specificity in vitro, NCI-H460 cells, along with additional tumor cells or normal control cells, were incubated with Cy3-labeled RA16 or the initial RNA library. The specific fluorescent binding was observed for HCI-H460 and H1299 cells, but not for HEK293T, Hela, and H226 cells. Binding affinity (Kd 9±2 nM) for RA16 was determined by flow cytometry using FITC-labeled RA16 to HCI-H460 cells. Meanwhile, cryosections from various organs of tumor-bearing mice also revealed strong binding of RA16 with HCI-H460 tumors but only slightly with lung tissue. No any significant binding was detected in other tissues of tumor-bearing mice or in any normal tissues of control mice. Furthermore, a quantitative-RT-PCR was performed to trap specific RA16 sequence from various tissues of control or tumor-bearing mice. The selected RNA aptamer RA16 or the initial RNA library was injected into tumor-bearing(n = 4) and normal control mice (n = 4). Total RNAs were extracted from the mouse tumor or from heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney 3.5 hrs post injection. There was an enrichment of 44.3±3.6-folds for the injected RA16 in mouse tumors treated by RA16 preparation comparing with mouse tumors treated by the initial RNA library. No significant enrichment of RA16 was detected in any other tissues of tumor-bearing mice or tissues from normal control mice. Significantly, in vivo tumor imaging study with Cy5.5-labeled RA16 showed that aptamer RA16 was gradually migrated toward tumor site and enriched with time at tumor area in mice. Our studies thus strongly suggests that RNA aptamer RA16 was specifically selected for targeting human NCI-H460 cells, as well as xenograft tumor tissues with high affinity both in vitro and in vivo. Citation Format: Hanlu Wang, Yibang Zhang, Chang Chu, Wei Dai, Rihe Liu, Yongping Jiang. Identification of a specific RNA aptamer targeting non-small cell lung cancer by in vivo SELEX. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2058.

Characterization of the interactions between Escherichia coli receptors, LPS and OmpC, and bacteriophage T4 long tail fibers

Bacteriophages have strict host specificity and the step of adsorption is one of key factors for determining host specificity. Here, we systematically examined the interaction between the Escherichia coli receptors lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and outer membrane protein C (OmpC), and the long tail fibers of bacteriophage T4. Using a variety of LPS mutants, we demonstrated that T4 has no specificity for the sugar sequence of the outer core (one of three LPS regions) in the presence of OmpC but, in the absence of OmpC, can adsorb to a specific LPS which has only one or two glucose residues without a branch. These results strengthen the idea that T4 adsorbs to E. coli via two distinct modes, OmpC‐dependent and OmpC‐independent, suggested by previous reports (Prehm et al. 1976; Yu and Mizushima 1982). Isolation and characterization of the T4 mutants Nik (No infection to K‐12 strain), Nib (No infection to B strain), and Arl (altered recognition of LPS) identified amino acids of the long tail fiber that play important roles in the interaction with OmpC or LPS, suggesting that the top surface of the distal tip head domain of T4 long tail fibers interacts with LPS and its lateral surface interacts with OmpC.

Enhanced Rice Blast Resistance by CRISPR/Cas9-Targeted Mutagenesis of the ERF Transcription Factor Gene OsERF922.

Rice blast is one of the most destructive diseases affecting rice worldwide. The adoption of host resistance has proven to be the most economical and effective approach to control rice blast. In recent years, sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) have been demonstrated to be powerful tools for the improvement of crops via gene-specific genome editing, and CRISPR/Cas9 is thought to be the most effective SSN. Here, we report the improvement of rice blast resistance by engineering a CRISPR/Cas9 SSN (C-ERF922) targeting the OsERF922 gene in rice. Twenty-one C-ERF922-induced mutant plants (42.0%) were identified from 50 T0 transgenic plants. Sanger sequencing revealed that these plants harbored various insertion or deletion (InDel) mutations at the target site. We showed that all of the C-ERF922-induced allele mutations were transmitted to subsequent generations. Mutant plants harboring the desired gene modification but not containing the transferred DNA were obtained by segregation in the T1 and T2 generations. Six T2 homozygous mutant lines were further examined for a blast resistance phenotype and agronomic traits, such as plant height, flag leaf length and width, number of productive panicles, panicle length, number of grains per panicle, seed setting percentage and thousand seed weight. The results revealed that the number of blast lesions formed following pathogen infection was significantly decreased in all 6 mutant lines compared with wild-type plants at both the seedling and tillering stages. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between any of the 6 T2 mutant lines and the wild-type plants with regard to the agronomic traits tested. We also simultaneously targeted multiple sites within OsERF922 by using Cas9/Multi-target-sgRNAs (C-ERF922S1S2 and C-ERF922S1S2S3) to obtain plants harboring mutations at two or three sites. Our results indicate that gene modification via CRISPR/Cas9 is a useful approach for enhancing blast resistance in rice.

Construction of tgw6 Mutants in Rice Based on CRISPR/Cas9 Technology

A set of tgw6 (Thousand-grain weight 6) mutants were constructed using CRISPR/Cas9 technology in this study. Three sites of 20 nt guide RNA (gRNA) targeted to the exon of TGW6 were designed and transcribed from the U3, U6a, or U6b promo- ters, respectively. The three target sites of gRNA were then ligated to the vector pYLCRISPR/Cas9-MT(I) based on golden gate cloning strategy. The recombinant plasmid was transferred to a rice cultivar, H447 (R819/Yuzhenxiang//R819 BC3F6) by Agro- bacterium-mediated transformation. Sequencing for the genomic DNA of TGW6 locus in T0 rice showed the mutagenesis fre- quency for TGW6 was more than 90%, including 51% of homozygous deletion mutations. Further analysis for the T1 mutants showed that almost all the homozygous deletion mutants improved the thousand-grain weight significantly (more than 5%). The successful tgw6 editing not only provided a series of tgw6 mutants for high and stable yield of rice but also proved that CRISPR/Cas9 is a facile and powerful means of rice genetic engineering for scientific and agricultural applications, which has

Homodimeric Protein-Polymer Conjugates via the Tetrazine-trans-Cyclooctene Ligation.

Tetrazine end-functionalized telechelic polymers were synthesized by controlled radical polymerization (CRP) and employed to generate T4 Lysozyme homodimers. Mutant T4 Lysozyme (V131C), containing a single surface-exposed cysteine, was modified with a protein-reactive trans-cyclooctene (T4L-TCO). Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization yielded poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm) with a number average molecular weight (Mn by 1H-NMR) of 2.0 kDa and a dispersity (Đ by GPC) of 1.05. pNIPAAm was then modified at both ends by post-polymerization with 6-methyl tetrazine. For comparison, 2.0 kDa bis-tetrazine poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and 2.0 kDa bis-maleimide pNIPAAm were synthesized. Ligation of T4L-TCO to bis-tetrazine pNIPAAm or bis-tetrazine PEG resulted in protein homodimer in 38% yield and 37% yield, respectively, after only 1 hour, whereas bis-maleimide pNIPAAm resulted in only 5% yield of dimer after 24 h. This work illustrates the advantage of employing tetrazine ligation over maleimide thiol-ene chemistry for the synthesis of protein homodimer conjugates.

Development of germ-line-specific CRISPR-Cas9 systems to improve the production of heritable gene modifications in Arabidopsis.

The Streptococcus-derived CRISPR/Cas9 system is being widely used to perform targeted gene modifications in plants. This customized endonuclease system has two components, the single-guide RNA (sgRNA) for target DNA recognition and the CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) for DNA cleavage. Ubiquitously expressed CRISPR/Cas9 systems (UC) generate targeted gene modifications with high efficiency but only those produced in reproductive cells are transmitted to the next generation. We report the design and characterization of a germ-line-specific Cas9 system (GSC) for Arabidopsis gene modification in male gametocytes, constructed using a SPOROCYTELESS (SPL) genomic expression cassette. Four loci in two endogenous genes were targeted by both systems for comparative analysis. Mutations generated by the GSC system were rare in T1 plants but were abundant (30%) in the T2 generation. The vast majority (70%) of the T2 mutant population generated using the UC system were chimeras while the newly developed GSC system produced only 29% chimeras, with 70% of the T2 mutants being heterozygous. Analysis of two loci in the T2 population showed that the abundance of heritable gene mutations was 37% higher in the GSC system compared to the UC system and the level of polymorphism of the mutations was also dramatically increased with the GSC system. Two additional systems based on germ-line-specific promoters (pDD45-GT and pLAT52-GT) were also tested, and one of them was capable of generating heritable homozygous T1 mutant plants. Our results suggest that future application of the described GSC system will facilitate the screening for targeted gene modifications, especially lethal mutations in the T2 population.

Egg cell-specific promoter-controlled CRISPR/Cas9 efficiently generates homozygous mutants for multiple target genes in Arabidopsis in a single generation.

Arabidopsis mutants produced by constitutive overexpression of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system are usually mosaics in the T1 generation. In this study, we used egg cell-specific promoters to drive the expression of Cas9 and obtained non-mosaic T1 mutants for multiple target genes with high efficiency. Comparisons of 12 combinations of eight promoters and two terminators found that the efficiency of the egg cell-specific promoter-controlled CRISPR/Cas9 system depended on the presence of a suitable terminator, and the composite promoter generated by fusing two egg cell-specific promoters resulted in much higher efficiency of mutation in the T1 generation compared with the single promoters.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0715-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

EPathOptimize: A Combinatorial Approach for Transcriptional Balancing of Metabolic Pathways.

The ability to fine tune gene expression has created the field of metabolic pathway optimization and balancing where a variety of factors affecting flux balance are carefully modulated to improve product titers, yields, and productivity. Using a library of isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible mutant T7 promoters of varied strength a combinatorial method was developed for transcriptional balancing of the violacein pathway. Violacein biosynthesis involves a complex five-gene pathway that is an excellent model for exploratory metabolic engineering efforts into pathway regulation and control due to many colorful intermediates and side products allowing for easy analysis and strain comparison. Upon screening approximately 4% of the total initial library, several high-titer mutants were discovered that resulted in up to a 63-fold improvement over the control strain. With further fermentation optimization, titers were improved to 1829 ± 46 mg/L; a 2.6-fold improvement in titer and a 30-fold improvement in productivity from previous literature reports.

Identification of new genes of nodule bacteria Sinorhizobium meliloti involved in the control of efficiency of symbiosis with alfalfa Medicago sativa

Using a Tn5 mutagenesis in a Sinorhizobium meliloti strain CXM 1-105, we obtained three mutants with increased symbiotic efficiency with alfalfa. Our study demonstrated Tn5 insertions labeled two chromosome genes encoding 5-adenosylhomocysteine methylthioadenosine deaminase (mutant T4) and a protein belonging to the GntR family of transcription regulators (mutant M3) and a thiamine biosynthetic gene thiC, localized at megaplasmide 2 (mutant T795). Mutant T795 along with high symbiotic efficiency exhibited a reduced ability to compete for nodulation with the parent strain CXM1-105.

Creation of fragrant rice by targeted knockout of the OsBADH2 gene using TALEN technology

Fragrant rice is favoured worldwide because of its agreeable scent. The presence of a defective badh2 allele encoding betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH2) results in the synthesis of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), which is a major fragrance compound. Here, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) were engineered to target and disrupt the OsBADH2 gene. Six heterozygous mutants (30%) were recovered from 20 transgenic hygromycin-resistant lines. Sanger sequencing confirmed that these lines had various indel mutations at the TALEN target site. All six transmitted the BADH2 mutations to the T1 generation; and four T1 mutant lines tested also efficiently transmitted the mutations to the T2 generation. Mutant plants carrying only the desired DNA sequence change but not the TALEN transgene were obtained by segregation in the T1 and T2 generations. The 2AP content of rice grains of the T1 lines with homozygous mutations increased from 0 to 0.35-0.75mg/kg, which was similar to the content of a positive control variety harbouring the badh2-E7 mutation. We also simultaneously introduced three different pairs of TALENs targeting three separate rice genes into rice cells by bombardment and obtained lines with mutations in one, two and all three genes. These results indicate that targeted mutagenesis using TALENs is a useful approach to creating important agronomic traits.

A single point mutation in cyclin T1 eliminates binding to Hexim1, Cdk9 and RNA but not to AFF4 and enforces repression of HIV transcription.

BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gene expression is primarily regulated at the step of transcription elongation. The viral Tat protein recruits the Positive Transcription Elongation Factor b (P-TEFb) and the Super Elongation Complex (SEC) to the HIV promoter and enhances transcription by host RNA polymerase II.ResultsTo map residues in the cyclin box of cyclin T1 that mediate the binding of P-TEFb to its interacting host partners and support HIV transcription, a pool of N-terminal cyclin T1 mutants was generated. Binding and functional assays in cells identified specific positions in cyclin T1 that are important for (i) association of P-TEFb with Hexim1, Cdk9 and SEC/AFF4 (ii) supporting Tat-transactivation in murine cells and (iii) inhibition of basal and Tat-dependent HIV transcription in human cells. Significantly, a unique cyclin T1 mutant where a Valine residue at position 107 was mutated to Glutamate (CycT1-V107E) was identified. CycT1-V107E did not bind to Hexim1 or Cdk9, and also could not assemble on HIV TAR or 7SK-snRNA. However, it bound strongly to AFF4 and its association with HIV Tat was slightly impaired. CycT1-V107E efficiently inhibited HIV replication in human T cell lines and in CD4(+) primary cells, and enforced HIV transcription repression in T cell lines that harbor a transcriptionally silenced integrated provirus.ConclusionsThis study outlines the mechanism by which CycT1-V107E mutant inhibits HIV transcription and enforces viral latency. It defines the importance of N-terminal residues of cyclin T1 in mediating contacts of P-TEFb with its transcription partners, and signifies the requirement of a functional P-TEFb and SEC in mediating HIV transcription.