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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.04.07.487545

Visualizing Molecular Interactions that Determine Assembly of a Bullet-Shaped Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Particle

Jenni, S.·Horwitz, J. A.·Bloyet, L.-M.·Whelan, S. J. P.·Harrison, S. C.
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Abstract

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus with a non-segmented genome, closely related to rabies virus. Both have characteristic bullet-like shapes. We report the structure of intact, infectious VSV particles determined by cryogenic electron microscopy. By compensating for polymorphism among viral particles with computational classification, we obtained a reconstruction of the shaft ("trunk") at 3.5 [A] resolution, with lower resolution for the rounded tip. The ribonucleoprotein (RNP), genomic RNA complexed with nucleoprotein (N), curls into a dome-like structure with about eight gradually expanding turns before transitioning into the regular helical trunk. Two layers of matrix (M) protein link the RNP with the membrane. Radial inter-layer subunit contacts are fixed within single RNA-N-M1-M2 modules, but flexible lateral and axial interactions allow assembly of polymorphic virions. Together with published structures of recombinant N in various states, our results suggest a mechanism for membrane- coupled self-assembly of VSV and its relatives.

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Jenni, S., Horwitz, J. A., Bloyet, L.-M., Whelan, S. J. P., Harrison, S. C.. 2022-04-08. Visualizing Molecular Interactions that Determine Assembly of a Bullet-Shaped Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Particle. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.07.487545

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