Bacillus subtilis tau subunit of DNA polymerase III interacts with bacteriophage SPP1 replicative DNA helicase G40P

Temporal compartmentalization of viral infection in bacterial cells

Virus infection causes major rearrangements in the subcellular architecture of eukaryotes, but its impact in prokaryotic cells was much less characterized. Here, we show that infection of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis by bacteriophage SPP1 leads to a hijacking of host replication proteins to assemble hybrid viral-bacterial replisomes for SPP1 genome replication. Their biosynthetic activity doubles the cell total DNA content within 15 min. Replisomes operate at several independent locations within a single viral DNA focus positioned asymmetrically in the cell. This large nucleoprotein complex is a self-contained compartment whose boundaries are delimited neither by a membrane nor by a protein cage. Later during infection, SPP1 procapsids localize at the periphery of the viral DNA compartment for genome packaging. The resulting DNA-filled capsids do not remain associated to the DNA transactions compartment. They bind to phage tails to build infectious particles that are stored in warehouse compartments spatially independent from the viral DNA. Free SPP1 structural proteins are recruited to the dynamic phage-induced compartments following an order that recapitulates the viral particle assembly pathway. These findings show that bacteriophages restructure the crowded host cytoplasm to confine at different cellular locations the sequential processes that are essential for their multiplication.

"French Phage Network" Annual Conference-Fifth Meeting Report

Attracting about 100 participants, the fifth edition of our French Phages.fr annual conference was once more a success. This year’s conference took place at the Institute for Structural Biology on the European Electron and Photon Campus in Grenoble, 8–9 October 2019. Similar to previous years, our meeting gathered scientists mainly working in France, from academic labs and hospitals as well as from industry. We also had the pleasure of welcoming attendees from different European countries and even beyond. The conference was divided into four sessions: Ecology and Evolution, Phage Therapy and Biotechnology, Structure and Assembly and Phage–Host Interaction, each opened by a keynote lecture. The talks, selected from abstracts, gave the opportunity for young scientists (especially students and post-docs) to present their project and results in a friendly atmosphere. Poster sessions also favoured interactions and discussions between young researchers and more senior scientists. Here, we provide a summary of the topics developed during the conference.

Bacillus subtilis RarA acts at the interplay between replication and repair-by-recombination

Bacterial RarA is thought to play crucial roles in the cellular response to blocked replication forks. We show that lack of Bacillus subtilis RarA renders cells very sensitive to H₂O₂, but not to methyl methane sulfonate or 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide. RarA is epistatic to RecA in response to DNA damage. Inactivation of rarA partially suppressed the DNA repair defect of mutants lacking translesion synthesis polymerases. RarA may contribute to error-prone DNA repair as judged by the reduced frequency of rifampicin-resistant mutants in ΔrarA and in ΔpolY1 ΔrarA cells. The absence of RarA strongly reduced the viability of dnaD23ts and dnaB37ts cells upon partial thermal inactivation, suggesting that ΔrarA cells are deficient in replication fork assembly. A ΔrarA mutation also partially reduced the viability of dnaC30ts and dnaX51ts cells and slightly improved the viability of dnaG40ts cells at semi-permissive temperature. These results suggest that RarA links re-initiation of DNA replication with repair-by-recombination by controlling the access of the replication machinery to a collapsed replication fork.

The Revisited Genome of Bacillus subtilis Bacteriophage SPP1

Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1 is a lytic siphovirus first described 50 years ago [1]. Its complete DNA sequence was reported in 1997 [2]. Here we present an updated annotation of the 44,016 bp SPP1 genome and its correlation to different steps of the viral multiplication process. Five early polycistronic transcriptional units encode phage DNA replication proteins and lysis functions together with less characterized, mostly non-^{essential, functions. Late transcription drives synthesis of proteins necessary for SPP1 viral particles assembly and for cell lysis, together with a short set of proteins of unknown function. The extensive genetic, biochemical and structural biology studies on the molecular mechanisms of SPP1 DNA replication and phage particle assembly rendered it a model system for tailed phages research. We propose SPP1} as the reference species for a new SPP1-like viruses genus of the Siphoviridae family.

Bacillus subtilis RarA modulates replication restart

The ubiquitous RarA/Mgs1/WRNIP protein plays a crucial, but poorly understood role in genome maintenance. We show that Bacillus subtilis RarA, in the apo form, preferentially binds single-stranded (ss) over double-stranded (ds) DNA. SsbA bound to ssDNA loads RarA, and for such recruitment the amphipathic C-terminal domain of SsbA is required. RarA is a DNA-dependent ATPase strongly stimulated by ssDNA–dsDNA junctions and SsbA, or by dsDNA ends. RarA, which may interact with PriA, does not stimulate PriA DNA unwinding. In a reconstituted PriA-dependent DNA replication system, RarA inhibited initiation, but not chain elongation. The RarA effect was not observed in the absence of SsbA, or when the host-encoded preprimosome and the DNA helicase are replaced by proteins from the SPP1 phage with similar function. We propose that RarA assembles at blocked forks to maintain genome integrity. Through its interaction with SsbA and with a preprimosomal component, RarA might impede the assembly of the replicative helicase, to prevent that recombination intermediates contribute to pathological DNA replication restart.

Sak and Sak4 recombinases are required for bacteriophage replication in Staphylococcus aureus

DNA-single strand annealing proteins (SSAPs) are recombinases frequently encoded in the genome of many bacteriophages. As SSAPs can promote homologous recombination among DNA substrates with an important degree of divergence, these enzymes are involved both in DNA repair and in the generation of phage mosaicisms. Here, analysing Sak and Sak4 as representatives of two different families of SSAPs present in phages infecting the clinically relevant bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, we demonstrate for the first time that these enzymes are absolutely required for phage reproduction. Deletion of the genes encoding these enzymes significantly reduced phage replication and the generation of infectious particles. Complementation studies revealed that these enzymes are required both in the donor (after prophage induction) and in the recipient strain (for infection). Moreover, our results indicated that to perform their function SSAPs require the activity of their cognate single strand binding (Ssb) proteins. Mutational studies demonstrated that the Ssb proteins are also required for phage replication, both in the donor and recipient strain. In summary, our results expand the functions attributed to the Sak and Sak4 proteins, and demonstrate that both SSAPs and Ssb proteins are essential for the life cycle of temperate staphylococcal phages.

Bacillus subtilis DNA polymerases, PolC and DnaE, are required for both leading and lagging strand synthesis in SPP1 origin-dependent DNA replication

Firmicutes have two distinct replicative DNA polymerases, the PolC leading strand polymerase, and PolC and DnaE synthesizing the lagging strand. We have reconstituted in vitro Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1 θ-type DNA replication, which initiates unidirectionally at oriL. With this system we show that DnaE is not only restricted to lagging strand synthesis as previously suggested. DnaG primase and DnaE polymerase are required for initiation of DNA replication on both strands. DnaE and DnaG synthesize in concert a hybrid RNA/DNA ‘initiation primer’ on both leading and lagging strands at the SPP1 oriL region, as it does the eukaryotic Pol α complex. DnaE, as a RNA-primed DNA polymerase, extends this initial primer in a reaction modulated by DnaG and one single-strand binding protein (SSB, SsbA or G36P), and hands off the initiation primer to PolC, a DNA-primed DNA polymerase. Then, PolC, stimulated by DnaG and the SSBs, performs the bulk of DNA chain elongation at both leading and lagging strands. Overall, these modulations by the SSBs and DnaG may contribute to the mechanism of polymerase switch at Firmicutes replisomes.

Molecular Mechanisms That Contribute to Horizontal Transfer of Plasmids by the Bacteriophage SPP1

Natural transformation and viral-mediated transduction are the main avenues of horizontal gene transfer in Firmicutes. Bacillus subtilis SPP1 is a generalized transducing bacteriophage. Using this lytic phage as a model, we have analyzed how viral replication and recombination systems contribute to the transfer of plasmid-borne antibiotic resistances. Phage SPP1 DNA replication relies on essential phage-encoded replisome organizer (G38P), helicase loader (G39P), hexameric replicative helicase (G40P), recombinase (G35P) and in less extent on the partially dispensable 5′→3′ exonuclease (G34.1P), the single-stranded DNA binding protein (G36P) and the Holliday junction resolvase (G44P). Correspondingly, the accumulation of linear concatemeric plasmid DNA, and the formation of transducing particles were blocked in the absence of G35P, G38P, G39P, and G40P, greatly reduced in the G34.1P, G36P mutants, and slightly reduced in G44P mutants. In contrast, establishment of injected linear plasmid DNA in the recipient host was independent of viral-encoded functions. DNA homology between SPP1 and the plasmid, rather than a viral packaging signal, enhanced the accumulation of packagable plasmid DNA. The transfer efficiency was also dependent on plasmid copy number, and rolling-circle plasmids were encapsidated at higher frequencies than theta-type replicating plasmids.

Nucleotide and partner-protein control of bacterial replicative helicase structure and function

Cellular replication forks are powered by ring-shaped, hexameric helicases that encircle and unwind DNA. To better understand the molecular mechanisms and control of these enzymes, we used multiple methods to investigate the bacterial replicative helicase, DnaB. A 3.3 Å crystal structure of Aquifex aeolicus DnaB, complexed with nucleotide, reveals a newly discovered conformational state for this motor protein. Electron microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering studies confirm the state seen crystallographically, showing that the DnaB ATPase domains and an associated N-terminal collar transition between two physical states in a nucleotide-dependent manner. Mutant helicases locked in either collar state are active but display different capacities to support critical activities such as duplex translocation and primase-dependent RNA synthesis. Our findings establish the DnaB collar as an autoregulatory hub that controls the ability of the helicase to transition between different functional states in response to both nucleotide and replication initiation/elongation factors.

Structure of the PolIIIα-τc-DNA complex suggests an atomic model of the replisome

The C-terminal domain (CTD) of the τ subunit of the clamp loader (τc) binds to both the DnaB helicase and the DNA polymerase III α subunit (PolIIIα), and determines their relative positions and orientations on the leading and lagging strands. Here, we present a 3.2 Å resolution structure of Thermus aquaticus PolIIIα in complex with τc and a DNA substrate. The structure reveals that the CTD of τc interacts with the CTD of PolIIIα through its C-terminal helix and the adjacent loop. Additionally, in this complex PolIIIα displays an open conformation that includes the reorientations of the oligonucleotide-binding fold and the thumb domain, which may be an indirect result of crystal packing due to the presence of the τc. Nevertheless, the position of the τc on PolIIIα allows us to suggest an approximate model for how the PolIIIα is oriented and positioned on the DnaB helicase.

Characterization of the Holliday junction resolving enzyme encoded by the Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1

Recombination-dependent DNA replication, which is a central component of viral replication restart, is poorly understood in Firmicutes bacteriophages. Phage SPP1 initiates unidirectional theta DNA replication from a discrete replication origin (oriL), and when replication progresses, the fork might stall by the binding of the origin binding protein G38P to the late replication origin (oriR). Replication restart is dependent on viral recombination proteins to synthesize a linear head-to-tail concatemer, which is the substrate for viral DNA packaging. To identify new functions involved in this process, uncharacterized genes from phage SPP1 were analyzed. Immediately after infection, SPP1 transcribes a number of genes involved in recombination and replication from P_E2 and P_E3 promoters. Resequencing the region corresponding to the last two hypothetical genes transcribed from the P_E2 operon (genes 44 and 45) showed that they are in fact a single gene, re-annotated here as gene 44, that encodes a single polypeptide, named gene 44 product (G44P, 27.5 kDa). G44P shares a low but significant degree of identity in its C-terminal region with virus-encoded RusA-like resolvases. The data presented here demonstrate that G44P, which is a dimer in solution, binds with high affinity but without sequence specificity to several double-stranded DNA recombination intermediates. G44P preferentially cleaves Holliday junctions, but also, with lower efficiency, replicated D-loops. It also partially complemented the loss of RecU resolvase activity in B. subtilis cells. These in vitro and in vivo data suggest a role for G44P in replication restart during the transition to concatemeric viral replication.

Recombination-dependent concatemeric viral DNA replication

The initiation of viral double stranded (ds) DNA replication involves proteins that recruit and load the replisome at the replication origin (ori). Any block in replication fork progression or a programmed barrier may act as a factor for ori-independent remodelling and assembly of a new replisome at the stalled fork. Then replication initiation becomes dependent on recombination proteins, a process called recombination-dependent replication (RDR). RDR, which is recognized as being important for replication restart and stability in all living organisms, plays an essential role in the replication cycle of many dsDNA viruses. The SPP1 virus, which infects Bacillus subtilis cells, serves as a paradigm to understand the links between replication and recombination in circular dsDNA viruses. SPP1-encoded initiator and replisome assembly proteins control the onset of viral replication and direct the recruitment of host-encoded replisomal components at viral oriL. SPP1 uses replication fork reactivation to switch from ori-dependent θ-type (circle-to-circle) replication to σ-type RDR. Replication fork arrest leads to a double strand break that is processed by viral-encoded factors to generate a D-loop into which a new replisome is assembled, leading to σ-type viral replication. SPP1 RDR proteins are compared with similar proteins encoded by other viruses and their possible in vivo roles are discussed.

Plasmid pSM19035, a model to study stable maintenance in Firmicutes

pSM19035 is a low-copy-number theta-replicating plasmid, which belongs to the Inc18 family. Plasmids of this family, which show a modular organization, are functional in evolutionarily diverse bacterial species of the Firmicutes Phylum. This review summarizes our understanding, accumulated during the last 20 years, on the genetics, biochemistry, cytology and physiology of the five pSM19035 segregation (seg) loci, which map outside of the minimal replicon. The segA locus plays a role both in maximizing plasmid random segregation, and in avoiding replication fork collapses in those plasmids with long inverted repeated regions. The segB1 locus, which acts as the ultimate determinant of plasmid maintenance, encodes a short-lived epsilon(2) antitoxin protein and a long-lived zeta toxin protein, which form a complex that neutralizes zeta toxicity. The cells that do not receive a copy of the plasmid halt their proliferation upon decay of the epsilon(2) antitoxin. The segB2 locus, which encodes two trans-acting, ParA- and ParB-like proteins and six cis-acting parS centromeres, actively ensures equal or roughly equal distribution of plasmid copies to daughter cells. The segC locus includes functions that promote the shift from the use of DNA polymerase I to the replicase (PolC-PolE DNA polymerases). The segD locus, which encodes a trans-acting transcriptional repressor, omega(2), and six cis-acting cognate sites, coordinates the expression of genes that control copy number, better-than-random segregation and partition, and assures the proper balance of these different functions. Working in concert the five different loci achieve almost absolute plasmid maintenance with a minimal growth penalty.

Allosteric regulation of the primase (DnaG) activity by the clamp-loader (tau) in vitro

During DNA replication the helicase (DnaB) recruits the primase (DnaG) in the replisome to initiate the polymerization of new DNA strands. DnaB is attached to the tau subunit of the clamp-loader that loads the beta clamp and interconnects the core polymerases on the leading and lagging strands. The tau-DnaB-DnaG ternary complex is at the heart of the replisome and its function is likely to be modulated by a complex network of allosteric interactions. Using a stable ternary complex comprising the primase and helicase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus and the tau subunit of the clamp-loader from Bacillus subtilis we show that changes in the DnaB-tau interaction can stimulate allosterically primer synthesis by DnaG in vitro. The A550V tau mutant stimulates the primase activity more efficiently than the native protein. Truncation of the last 18 C-terminal residues of tau elicits a DnaG-stimulatory effect in vitro that appears to be suppressed in the native tau protein. Thus changes in the tau-DnaB interaction allosterically affect primer synthesis. Although these C-terminal residues of tau are not involved directly in the interaction with DnaB, they may act as a functional gateway for regulation of primer synthesis by tau-interacting components of the replisome through the tau-DnaB-DnaG pathway.

The replicative polymerases PolC and DnaE are required for theta replication of the Bacillus subtilis plasmid pBS72

Plasmids are the tools of choice for studying bacterial functions involved in DNA maintenance. Here a genetic study on the replication of a novel, low-copy-number, Bacillus subtilis plasmid, pBS72, is reported. The results show that two plasmid elements, the initiator protein RepA and an iteron-containing origin, and at least nine host-encoded replication proteins, the primosomal proteins DnaB, DnaC, DnaD, DnaG and DnaI, the DNA polymerases DnaE and PolC, and the polymerase cofactors DnaN and DnaX, are required for pBS72 replication. On the contrary, the cellular initiators DnaA and PriA, the helicase PcrA and DNA polymerase I are dispensable. From this, it is inferred that pBS72 replication is of the theta type and is initiated by an original mechanism. Indirect evidence suggests that during this process the DnaC helicase might be delivered to the plasmid origin by the weakly active DnaD pathway stimulated by a predicted interaction between DnaC and a domain of RepA homologous to the major DnaC-binding domain of the cellular initiator DnaA. The plasmid pBS72 replication fork appears to require the same functions as the bacterial chromosome and the unrelated plasmid pAMbeta1. Most importantly, this replication machinery contains the two type C polymerases, PolC and DnaE. As the mechanism of initiation of the three genomes is substantially different, this suggests that both type C polymerases might be required in any Cairns replication in B. subtilis and presumably in other bacteria encoding PolC and DnaE.

Quaternary polymorphism of replicative helicase G40P: structural mapping and domain rearrangement

Quaternary polymorphism is a distinctive structural feature of the DnaB family of replicative DNA hexameric helicases. The Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1 gene 40 product (G40P) belongs to this family. Three different quaternary states have been described for G40P homohexamers, two of them with C(3) symmetry, and the other with C(6) symmetry. We present three-dimensional reconstructions of the different architectures of G40P hexamers and a variant lacking the N-terminal domain. Comparison of the G40P and the deletion mutant structures sheds new light on the functional roles of the N and C-terminal domains, at the same time that it allows the direct structural mapping of these domains. Based on this new information, hybrid EM/X-ray models are presented for all the different symmetries. These results suggest that quaternary polymorphism of hexameric helicases may be implicated in the translocation along the DNA.

Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1 G40P helicase lacking the n-terminal domain unwinds DNA bidirectionally

Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1 G40P hexameric replicative DNA helicase unidirectionally translocates with a 5'-->3' polarity while separating the DNA strands. A G40P mutant derivative lacking the N-terminal domain (containing amino acid residues 110-442 from G40P, G40PDeltaN109) was purified and characterized. G40PDeltaN109 showed an ATPase activity that was dependent on the presence of single-stranded (ss) DNA. Unlike G40P, G40PDeltaN109 was shown to bind with similar affinity both ssDNA arms of forked structures by nuclease protection assays. In a pH-dependent manner, G40PDeltaN109 unwound a branched double-arm substrate preferentially with a 3'-->5' polarity. Our results show that the linker region and the C-terminal domain of G40P are sufficient to render an enzyme capable of encircling the ssDNA tails of the forked DNA and to unwind DNA with both 5'-->3' and 3'-->5' polarity. The presence of the N-terminal domain, which does not play an essential role in helicase action, might be required indirectly for strand discrimination and polarity of translocation.

Conservation of eubacterial replicases

The last 15 years of effort in understanding bacterial DNA replication and repair has identified that the donut shaped beta2 sliding clamp is harnessed by very functionally different DNA polymerases throughout the lifecycle of the bacterial cell. Remarkably, the sites of binding of these polymerases, in most cases, appear to be the same shallow pocket on the beta dimer. In every case, binding of beta2 by the polymerase enhances their processivity of DNA synthesis. This binding site is also the same point of interaction between beta2 and the clamp loader complex, which binds beta2, opens and places it onto the DNA strand and then vacates the site. Beta2 may also be involved in the initiation of DNA replication again via contact through this same site. While much of the research effort has focused on Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, conservation of this complex system is becoming apparent in diverse bacteria.

Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage SPP1-encoded gene 34.1 product is a recombination-dependent DNA replication protein

SPP1-encoded replication and recombination proteins, involved in the early steps of the initiation of concatemeric DNA synthesis, have been analyzed. Dimeric G34.1P exonuclease degrades, with a 5' to 3' polarity and in a Mg2+-dependent reaction, preferentially linear double-stranded (ds) DNA rather than single-stranded (ss) DNA. Binding of the replisome organizer, G38P, to its cognate sites (oriDNA) halts the 5' to 3' exonucleolytic activity of G34.1P on dsDNA. The G35P recombinase increases the affinity of G34.1P for dsDNA, and stimulates G34.1P activity on dsDNA, but not on ssDNA. Then, filamented G35P promotes limited strand exchange with a homologous sequence. The ssDNA binding protein, G36P, protects ssDNA from the G34.1P exonuclease activity and stimulates G35P-catalyzed strand exchange. The data presented suggest a model for the role of G34.1P during initiation of sigma replication: G38P bound to oriDNA might halt replication fork progression, and G35P, G34.1P and G36P in concert might lead to the re-establishment of a unidirectional recombination-dependent replication that accounts for the direction of DNA packaging.

Complete genome sequence of phiHSIC, a pseudotemperate marine phage of Listonella pelagia

The genome for the marine pseudotemperate member of the Siphoviridae phiHSIC has been sequenced using a combination of linker amplification library construction, restriction digest library construction, and primer walking. phiHSIC enters into a pseudolysogenic relationship with its host, Listonella pelagia, characterized by sigmoidal growth curves producing >10(9) cells/ml and >10(11) phage/ml. The genome (37,966 bp; G+C content, 44%) contained 47 putative open reading frames (ORFs), 17 of which had significant BLASTP hits in GenBank, including a beta subunit of DNA polymerase III, a helicase, a helicase-like subunit of a resolvasome complex, a terminase, a tail tape measure protein, several phage-like structural proteins, and 1 ORF that may assist in host pathogenicity (an ADP ribosyltransferase). The genome was circularly permuted, with no physical ends detected by sequencing or restriction enzyme digestion analysis, and lacked a cos site. This evidence is consistent with a headful packaging mechanism similar to that of Salmonella phage P22 and Shigella phage Sf6. Because none of the phage-like ORFs were closely related to any existing phage sequences in GenBank (i.e., none more than 62% identical and most <25% identical at the amino acid level), phiHSIC is unique among phages that have been sequenced to date. These results further emphasize the need to sequence phages from the marine environment, perhaps the largest reservoir of untapped genetic information.

The clamp-loader-helicase interaction in Bacillus. Atomic force microscopy reveals the structural organisation of the DnaB-tau complex in Bacillus

The clamp-loader-helicase interaction is an important feature of the replisome. Although significant biochemical and structural work has been carried out on the clamp-loader-clamp-DNA polymerase alpha interactions in Escherichia coli, the clamp-loader-helicase interaction is poorly understood by comparison. The tau subunit of the clamp-loader mediates the interaction with DnaB. We have recently characterised this interaction in the Bacillus system and established a tau(5)-DnaB(6) stoichiometry. Here, we have obtained atomic force microscopy images of the tau-DnaB complex that reveal the first structural insight into its architecture. We show that despite the reported absence of the shorter gamma version in Bacillus, tau has a domain organisation similar to its E.coli counterpart and possesses an equivalent C-terminal domain that interacts with DnaB. The interaction interface of DnaB is also localised in its C-terminal domain. The combined data contribute towards our understanding of the bacterial replisome.

Clamp-loader-helicase interaction in Bacillus. Leucine 381 is critical for pentamerization and helicase binding of the Bacillus tau protein

Recently, we revealed the architecture of the clamp-loader-helicase (tau-DnaB) complex in Bacillus by atomic force microscopy imaging and constructed a structural model, whereby a pentameric clamp-loader interacts with the hexameric helicase. Crucial to this model is the assumption that the clamp-loader forms a pentamer in the absence of other components of the clamp-loader complex such as deltadelta'. Here, we show that the Bacillus subtilis tau protein, even in the absence of deltadelta', interacts as a pentamer with the hexameric DnaB and that the L381 of tau is critical for the integrity of the tau oligomer and interaction with DnaB. The effects of the L381A mutation were confirmed by gel filtration, ultracentrifugation, circular dichroism, cross-linking studies, and genetic replacement of the dnaX gene with a mutant L381A dnaX gene in vivo. The L381A protein is able to support growth in vivo only when expressed in high quantities. Finally, despite the fact that a mutation at P465 has been reported to result in a thermosensitive gene in vivo, a P465L mutant protein interacts with DnaB in vitro suggesting that this defect is not a result of a defective tau-DnaB interaction.

Structural analysis of Bacillus subtilis SPP1 phage helicase loader protein G39P

The Bacillus subtilis SPP1 phage-encoded protein G39P is a loader and inhibitor of the phage G40P replicative helicase involved in the initiation of DNA replication. We have carried out a full x-ray crystallographic and preliminary NMR analysis of G39P and functional studies of the protein, including assays for helicase binding by a number of truncated mutant forms, in an effort to improve our understanding of how it both interacts with the helicase and with the phage replisome organizer, G38P. Our structural analyses reveal that G39P has a completely unexpected bipartite structure comprising a folded N-terminal domain and an essentially unfolded C-terminal domain. Although G39P has been shown to bind its G40P target with a 6:6 stoichiometry, our crystal structure and other biophysical characterization data reveal that the protein probably exists predominantly as a monomer in solution. The G39P protein is proteolytically sensitive, and our binding assays show that the C-terminal domain is essential for helicase interaction and that removal of just the 14 C-terminal residues abolishes interaction with the helicase in vitro. We propose a number of possible scenarios in which the flexibility of the C-terminal domain of G39P and its proteolytic sensitivity may have important roles for the function of G39P in vivo that are consistent with other data on SPP1 phage DNA replication.