Data for: Viral receptor-binding protein evolves new function through mutations that cause trimer instability and functional heterogeneity

When proteins evolve new activity, a concomitant decrease in stability is often observed because the mutations that confer new activity can destabilize the native fold. In the conventional model of protein evolution, reduced stability is considered a purely deleterious cost of molecular innovation because unstable proteins are prone to aggregation and are sensitive to environmental stressors. However, recent work has revealed that non-native, often unstable protein conformations play an important role in mediating evolutionary transitions, raising the question of whether instability can itself potentiate the evolution of new activity. We explored this question in a bacteriophage receptor binding protein (RBP) during host-range evolution. We studied the properties of the RBP of bacteriophage  before and after host-range evolution and demonstrated that the evolved protein is relatively unstable and may exist in multiple conformations with unique receptor preferences. Through a combination..., Biochemical assays of bacteriophage lambda's receptor binding protein. , , # Data for: Viral receptor-binding protein evolves new function through mutations that cause trimer instability and functional heterogeneity

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pnvx0k6wn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pnvx0k6wn)

Give a brief summary of dataset contents, contextualized in experimental procedures and results.

## Description of the data and file structure

fig2a_RFU.csv - Data displayed in Figure 2 panel A. First column is the temperature, the next nine columns give the fluorescence at the different temperatures. The first three of the columns are replicates of a buffer control, the next set of three are for the ancestral protein, and the last three are for the evolved protein.

fig2b_dRFUdt.csv - Data displayed in Figure 2 panel B. First column is the temperature, the next nine columns give the first derivative of the melting curve at the different temperatures. The first three of the columns are replicates of a buffer control, the next set of three are for the ancestral pr...