Page 93 - Annual report 2021-22

Annual Report 2021-22 |

that the viruses from Nidovirales order obtained NFX1 zinc finger containing protein from fungi and
evolved to the NSP-14 ExoN protein among this order of viruses. Now, to comment on the additional
functions of NSP-14 ExoN, they mined information about the uncharacterized fungal ZNFX1 and Hrr1
(RNA helicase) from Schizosaccharomyces pombe. String database analysis showed that the hrr1
interacts with RNA dependent RNA polymerase and also with proteins involved in RNA interference
mediated heterochromatinization. In collaboration with Lipi Thukral, major residues involved in 76
binding of the zinc finger domains with RNA were identified based on the residence time. Thereby,
this viral exonuclease appears to exploit the RNA binding ability of the ancestral ZnFs for RNA
recognition for proofreading.

But nature did not deem it her business to make the discovery of her

laws easy for us.” — Albert Einstein