Electron cryo-microscopy and single-particle averaging of Rift Valley fever virus: evidence for GN-GC glycoprotein heterodimers.

ABSTRACT: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a member of the genus Phlebovirus within the family Bunyaviridae. It is a mosquito-borne zoonotic agent that can cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. The enveloped RVFV virions are known to be covered by capsomers of the glycoproteins G(N) and G(C), organized on a T=12 icosahedral lattice. However, the structural units forming the RVFV capsomers have not been determined. Conflicting biochemical results for another phlebovirus (Uukuniemi virus) have indicated the existence of either G(N) and G(C) homodimers or G(N)-G(C) heterodimers in virions. Here, we have studied the structure of RVFV using electron cryo-microscopy combined with three-dimensional reconstruction and single-particle averaging. The reconstruction at 2.2-nm resolution revealed the organization

SUBMITTER: Huiskonen JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2663282 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature