Structural basis for the coevolution of a viral RNA-protein complex.

The cocrystal structure of the PP7 bacteriophage coat protein in complex with its translational operator identifies a distinct mode of sequence-specific RNA recognition when compared to the well-characterized MS2 coat protein-RNA complex. The structure reveals the molecular basis of the PP7 coat protein's ability to selectively bind its cognate RNA, and it demonstrates that the conserved beta-sheet surface is a flexible architecture that can evolve to recognize diverse RNA hairpins.