JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vogt, V. M.
Right arrow Articles by Simon, M. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vogt, V. M.
Right arrow Articles by Simon, M. N.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, August 1999, p. 7050-7055, Vol. 73, No. 8
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Mass Determination of Rous Sarcoma Virus Virions by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Volker M. Vogt1,* and Martha N. Simon2

Section of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853,1 and Department of Biology, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 119732

Received 4 December 1998/Accepted 7 May 1999

The internal structural protein of retroviruses, Gag, comprises most of the mass of the virion, and Gag itself can give rise to virus-like particles when expressed in appropriate cells. Previously the stoichiometry of Gag in virions was inferred from indirect measurements carried out 2 decades ago. We now have directly determined the masses of individual particles of the prototypic avian retrovirus, Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), by using scanning transmission electron microscopy. In this technique, the number of scattered electrons in the dark-field image integrated over an individual freeze-dried virus particle on a grid is directly proportional to its mass. The RSV virions had a mean mass of 2.5 × 108 Da, corresponding to about 1,500 Gag molecules per virion. The population of virions was not homogeneous, with about one-third to two-thirds of the virions deviating from the mean by more than 10% of the mass in two respective preparations. The mean masses for virions carrying genomes of 7.4 or 9.3 kb were indistinguishable, suggesting that mass variability is not due to differences in RNA incorporation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Biotechnology Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Phone: (607) 255-2443. Fax: (607) 255-2428. E-mail: vmv1{at}cornell.edu.

Journal of Virology, August 1999, p. 7050-7055, Vol. 73, No. 8
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1999 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.