In molecular biology, excisionase is a bacteriophageprotein encoded by the Xis gene. It is involved in excisive recombination by regulating the assembly of the excisive intasome and by inhibiting viral integration. It adopts an unusual winged-helix structure in which two alpha helices are packed against two extended strands. Also present in the structure is a two-stranded anti-parallel beta-sheet, whose strands are connected by a four-residue wing. During interaction with DNA, helix alpha2 is thought to insert into the major groove, while the wing contacts the adjacent minor groove or phosphodiester backbone. The C-terminal region of excisionase is involved in interaction with phage-encoded integrase (Int), and a putative C-terminal alpha helix may fold upon interaction with Int and/or DNA.[1]
^Sam MD, Papagiannis CV, Connolly KM, Corselli L, Iwahara J, Lee J, Phillips M, Wojciak JM, Johnson RC, Clubb RT (December 2002). "Regulation of directionality in bacteriophage lambda site-specific recombination: structure of the Xis protein". J. Mol. Biol. 324 (4): 791–805. doi:10.1016/S0022-2836(02)01150-6. PMID12460578.