Capsid formation (IMAGE)
Caption
From left to right: The green triangles mimic capsid proteins. In the absence of a viral genome, they assemble around smaller segments of RNA. However, the shell is stressed and can be easily broken into pieces. The color bar shows the different levels of stress. Once the viral RNA is available, the capsid proteins start to leave non-viral RNAs and assemble around the viral genome. This can be done relatively easily because of the high stress level of capsid proteins in the smaller shell. The right figure shows capsid proteins assembled around the native RNA, forming a stable icosahedral shell.
Credit
Zandi lab, UC Riverside.
Usage Restrictions
None.
License
Original content