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    Virus Structure
    Virus Structure
    Virus Structure
    Ebook136 pages1 hour

    Virus Structure

    By Robert W. Horne

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    Virus Structure describes the physical characteristics of isolated viruses that represent typical structural groups, with particular reference to those features analyzed with the aid of the electron microscope. For descriptive purposes, the book has been divided into sections starting with the small icosahedral viruses and leading to the larger and more sophisticated structures, regardless of whether they are animal, plant, or bacterial viruses. These include double-stranded DNA icosahedral viruses, herpesvirus, viruses with helical symmetry, and viruses with complex or a combination of symmetries. Many common architectural features will be found in those viruses selected for discussion in each of the sections, and for these reasons the introduction places some emphasis on the symmetry elements rather than the shapes of viruses. The mechanism by which viruses enter host cells and the events that follow once the cell has been infected are only mentioned briefly as the virus-host interaction is a relatively complex one.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAcademic Press
    Release dateJun 28, 2014
    ISBN9781483273921
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      Book preview

      Virus Structure - Robert W. Horne

      VIRUS STRUCTURE

      ROBERT W. HORNE

      Department of Ultrastructural Studies, John Innes Institute, Norwich, England

      ACADEMIC PRESS

      Table of Contents

      Cover image

      Title page

      Copyright

      PREFACE

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

      Units of Measurement

      Terminology

      Chapter 2: SYMMETRY IN VIRIONS

      Publisher Summary

      Helical Symmetry

      Icosahedral Symmetry

      Structure Units and Capsid Triangulation Number

      Virus Nucleic Acid and Core Structure

      Chapter 3: SMALL DNA ICOSAHEDRAL VIRUSES

      Publisher Summary

      The Structure and Dimensions of ϕ X174 Virus

      Chapter 4: SMALL RNA ICOSAHEDRAL VIRUSES (NAPOVIRUSES AND PICORNAVIRUSES)

      Publisher Summary

      Poliovirus (Picornavirus)

      Chapter 5: DOUBLE-STRANDED DNA ICOSAHEDRAL VIRUSES

      Publisher Summary

      Papovaviruses

      Adenoviruses

      Chapter 6: HERPESVIRUS

      Publisher Summary

      Tipula Iridescent Virus

      Chapter 7: VIRUSES WITH HELICAL SYMMETRY

      Publisher Summary

      Myxoviruses

      Chapter 8: VIRUSES WITH COMPLEX OR A COMBINATION OF SYMMETRIES

      Publisher Summary

      SUMMARY

      REFERENCES

      INDEX

      Copyright

      Copyright © 1974, by Academic Press, Inc.

      all rights reserved.

      no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.

      111 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10003

      United Kingdom Edition published by

      ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. (LONDON) LTD.

      24/28 Oval Road, London NW1

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      Horne, Robert W

      Virus structure.

      (Ultrastructure of cells and organisms, no. )

      Bibliography: p.

      1. Viruses—Morphology. I. Title. II. Series.

      [DNLM: 1. Viruses—Anatomy and history. QW160 H813 1974]

      QR450.H67 576′.64 74-1318

      ISBN 0-12-355750-X

      printed in the united states of america

      PREFACE

      The progress made in applying the electron microscope to virus research over the last two decades has been remarkable. New methods for isolating viruses and their subsequent purification have led to a detailed analysis of their biological, biochemical, and structural characteristics. These advances have always been closely linked with electron microscopy which has proved to be the most powerful technique for directly visualizing viruses and is an essential tool for their structural analysis.

      Viruses at one time were classified according to the diseases they caused in animals, plants, and bacteria because there was no direct way of studying their anatomy, and therefore little importance was attached to their biochemical and physical characteristics. In recent years, the electron microscope, when closely linked to biochemical and other physical methods, has clearly demonstrated that many viruses, regardless of their host range, have a remarkable and aesthetically pleasing common architecture.

      The aim of this monograph is to describe the physical characteristics of isolated viruses that represent typical structural groups, with particular reference to those features analyzed with the aid of the electron microscope. For descriptive purposes, the monograph has been divided into sections starting with the small icosahedral viruses and leading to the larger and more sophisticated structures, regardless of whether they are animal, plant, or bacterial viruses. Many common architectural features will be found in those viruses selected for discussion in each of the sections, and for these reasons the introduction places some emphasis on the symmetry elements rather than the shapes of viruses. The mechanism by which viruses enter host cells and the events that follow once the cell has been infected are only mentioned briefly as the virus—host interaction is a relatively complex one.

      ROBERT W. HORNE

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Much of the work described in this monograph is a direct result of studies carried out in Cambridge between 1956 and 1963. It began with the early application of negative staining to a wide variety of viruses, and I am particularly indebted to Professor P. Wildy, Professor A. P. Waterson, Professor M. Stoker, Dr. J. Nagington, Dr. S. Brenner, Dr. W. C. Russell, and other colleagues who made it possible for a unique series of collaborative experiments on the ultrastructure of viruses to take place. I also wish to thank several colleagues at the John Innes Institute and other authors who have kindly supplied electron micrographs and drawings of viruses.

      Acknowledgment is also due to Mrs. C. V. Waugh who constructed a number of the original pentamer and hexamer models and provided several detailed drawings from these and other structures for publication in this monograph.

      INTRODUCTION

      Nor do I doubt if the most formidable armies ever heere upon earth is a sort of soldiers who for their smallness are not visible. (52)

      Petty, 1640

      The modern concept of an infective virus particle is that it consists of a type of nucleic acid enclosed in a coat of protein or lipoprotein. The coat has the main function of protecting the infective nucleic acid or genome and in many instances may play some vital role in the initial attachment of the virus particle to the host cell and its subsequent penetration of viral material into the cytoplasm. Viruses can only multiply within a living cell and cannot be grown outside cells on an artificial medium. The techniques for maintaining animal cells in tissue culture are well established and they play an important role in the study and propagation of viruses. When viruses are isolated from the original host, they can be replicated in suitable tissue culture cells and relatively large numbers of progeny virus obtained. In the case of plant viruses, the techniques of cell culture and virus production are less advanced, but recent developments suggest that plant viruses may well be replicated in the near future in a similar way to animal viruses.

      Viruses are incredibly small and, apart from one size group, they can only be visualized directly in the electron microscope. It is for this reason that most of the information concerning the size, shape, and symmetry

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