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Published online 6 September 2005. doi:10.1083/jcb.200504026
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $8.00
JCB, Volume 170, Number 6, 971-981
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Article

External scaffold of spherical immature poxvirus particles is made of protein trimers, forming a honeycomb lattice



Patricia Szajner1, Andrea S. Weisberg1, Jacob Lebowitz2, John Heuser3, and Bernard Moss1

1 Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
2 Division of Bioengineering and Physical Science, Office of Research Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD 20892
3 Department of Cell Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110

Correspondence to Bernard Moss: bmoss{at}nih.gov

During morphogenesis, poxviruses undergo a remarkable transition from spherical immature forms to brick-shaped infectious particles lacking helical or icosahedral symmetry. In this study, we show that the transitory honeycomb lattice coating the lipoprotein membrane of immature vaccinia virus particles is formed from trimers of a 62-kD protein encoded by the viral D13L gene. Deep-etch electron microscopy demonstrated that anti-D13 antibodies bound to the external protein coat and that lattice fragments were in affinity-purified D13 preparations. Soluble D13 appeared mostly trimeric by gel electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation, which is consistent with structural requirements for a honeycomb. In the presence or absence of other virion proteins, a mutated D13 with one amino acid substitution formed stacks of membrane-unassociated flat sheets that closely resembled the curved honeycombs of immature virions except for the absence of pentagonal facets. A homologous domain that is present in D13 and capsid proteins of certain other lipid-containing viruses support the idea that the developmental stages of poxviruses reflect their evolution from an icosahedral ancestor.

Abbreviations used in this paper: 2-D, two dimensional; 3-D, three dimensional; IMV, intracellular mature virion; IV, immature virion; VACV, vaccinia virus.


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