The large genome segment of dsRNA bacteriophage phi6 is the key regulator in the in vitro minus and plus strand synthesis.

Bacteriophage phi6 is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus that has a genome composed of three linear dsRNA segments (L, M, S). These are encapsidated into a dodecahedral procapsid particle consisting of proteins P1, P2, P4, and P7. Empty preformed procapsids are able to package the plus-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) of each genome segment, to synthesize the corresponding minus strands ("replication") to form dsRNA segments, and to continue to the plus strand synthesis ("transcription") in which the dsRNA segments are used as templates in production of plus-sense ssRNA. In this study, we have investigated the requirements for the switch-on of minus and plus strand syntheses. We show that there exists an inverse relationship between regulation of the ssRNA packaging and minus strand synthesis. The packaging of single-stranded l, which has previously been shown to be packaged as the last, is the necessary signal for the onset of the minus strand synthesis. The absolute requirement for plus strand synthesis is minus strand synthesis of l, but in addition, the minus strand synthesis of m and the packaging of s segment are needed for efficient plus strand synthesis. Furthermore, the second nucleotide at the 5'-end of each segment regulates the extent of the transcription.