In herpesviruses and many bacterial viruses, genome-packaging is a precisely mediated process fulfilled by a virally encoded molecular machine called terminase that consists of two protein components: A DNA-recognition component that defines the specificity for packaged DNA, and a catalytic component that provides energy for the packaging reaction by hydrolyzing ATP. The terminase docks onto the portal protein complex embedded in a single vertex of a preformed viral protein shell called procapsid, and pumps the viral DNA into the procapsid through a conduit formed by the portal. Here we report the 1.65 Å resolution structure of the DNA-recognition component gp1 of the Shigella bacteriophage Sf6 genomepackaging machine. The structure reveals a ring-like octamer formed by interweaved protein monomers with a highly extended fold, embracing a tunnel through which DNA may be translocated. The N-terminal DNA-binding domains form the peripheral appendages surrounding the octamer. The central domain contributes to oligomerization through interactions of bundled helices. The C-terminal domain forms a barrel with parallel beta-strands. The structure reveals a common scheme for oligomerization of terminase DNA-recognition components, and provides insights into the role of gp1 in formation of the packaging-competent terminase complex and assembly of the terminase with the portal, in which ring-like protein oligomers stack together to form a continuous channel for viral DNA translocation.terminase | DNA-packaging | oligomer | bacteriophage | protein:DNA interaction I n many tailed double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) bacteriophages and herpesvirus, the newly synthesized viral DNA in the infected host cell is present as a concatemer that is comprised of multiple copies of unit-length genome. The concatemeric DNA is packaged into a preformed capsid precursor termed procapsid through a channel formed by a portal protein complex embedded in a unique vertex of the procapsid (1-5). The DNApackaging process involves a precisely coordinated sequence of molecular events, driven by a molecular machine called terminase consisting of two proteins: A DNA-recognition component and a catalytic component, also known as the "small" and "large" subunit, respectively. The terminase specifically binds to concatemeric viral DNA through the DNA-recognition component and cleaves it using the catalytic component, generating a new terminus for the DNA. This terminus is threaded through the portal protein channel embedded in the procapsid, and the catalytic component pumps the DNA into the procapsid in an ATP-dependent manner. When an appropriate amount of DNA is inserted, the terminase cuts the DNA again, dissociates from the procapsid, and can start the next cycle of DNA-packaging. Many of these features in DNA-packaging are also shared by adenoviruses (6). The x-ray structures of the catalytic component from bacteriophage T4 and the portals from various phages were previously described (7-10). However, it is not known how the terminases are assembled and h...