FIGURE 5.

Molecular scenarios for Sup35 polymerization observed in this work. Scenarios are designated as indicated on the right. Polymers are represented as sequences of letters corresponding to Sup35 molecules and reflecting their origin: c and C denote cerevisiae, P denotes paradoxus, M denotes mikatae, and X denotes various hybrid Sup35 proteins. Lowercase letters designate the prion fold, and uppercase letters indicate the non-heritable fold. For simplicity, polymer growth is shown only on the right. The prion fold reproduction may occur only in area I after its fragmentation by Hsp104. Gray letters in area III reflect the lack or reduced probability of polymerization. In Scenario 5, hybrid Sup35 does not incorporate into a polymer.