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Journal of Virology, January 1999, p. 242-250, Vol. 73, No. 1
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Matrix Protein of Rabies Virus Is Responsible for the Assembly and Budding of Bullet-Shaped Particles and Interacts with the Transmembrane Spike Glycoprotein G

Teshome Mebatsion,dagger Frank Weiland, and Karl-Klaus Conzelmann*

Department of Clinical Virology, Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany

Received 10 June 1998/Accepted 18 September 1998

To elucidate the functions of rhabdovirus matrix (M) protein, we determined the localization of M in rabies virus (RV) and analyzed the properties of an M-deficient RV mutant. We provide evidence that M completely covers the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) coil and keeps it in a condensed form. As determined by cosedimentation experiments, not only the M-RNP complex but also M alone was found to interact specifically with the glycoprotein G. In contrast, an interaction of G with the nucleoprotein N or M-less RNP was not observed. In the absence of M, infectious particles were mainly cell associated and the yield of cell-free infectious virus was reduced by as much as 500,000-fold, demonstrating the crucial role of M in virus budding. Supernatants from cells infected with the M-deficient RV did not contain the typical bullet-shaped rhabdovirus particles but instead contained long, rod-shaped virions, demonstrating severe impairment of the virus formation process. Complementation with M protein expressed from plasmids rescued rhabdovirus formation. These results demonstrate the pivotal role of M protein in condensing and targeting the RNP to the plasma membrane as well as in incorporation of G protein into budding virions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Paul-Ehrlich-Strasse 28, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany. Phone: 49 7071 967 205. Fax: 49 7071 967303. E-mail: conzelmann{at}tue.bfav.de.

dagger Present address: Intervet International b.v., NL-5830 AA Boxmeer, The Netherlands.

Journal of Virology, January 1999, p. 242-250, Vol. 73, No. 1
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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