Packaging of double-stranded viral DNA concatemers requires interaction of the prohead with virus DNA. This process is mediated by a phage-encoded DNA recognition and terminase protein. The terminase enzymes described so far, which are hetero-oligomers composed of a small and a large subunit, do not have a significant level of sequence homology. The small terminase subunit is thought to form a nucleoprotein structure that helps to position the terminase large subunit at the packaging initiation site [1].

1: DNA packaging in dsDNA bacteriophages. Black LW; Annu Rev Microbiol 1989;43:267-292. PMID:2679356