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Journal of Virology, July 2005, p. 9236-9243, Vol. 79, No. 14
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.14.9236-9243.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Marine Algal Virus PpV01 Has an Icosahedral Capsid with T=219 Quasisymmetry

Xiaodong Yan,1,{dagger} Paul R. Chipman,1 Tonje Castberg,2 Gunnar Bratbak,2 and Timothy S. Baker1*

Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907,1 Department of Microbiology, University of Bergen, N-5020 Bergen, Norway2

Received 3 February 2005/ Accepted 13 March 2005

Phaeocystis pouchetii virus (PpV01) infects and lyses the haptophyte Phaeocystis pouchetii (Hariot) Lagerheim and was first isolated from Norwegian coastal waters. We have used electron cryomicroscopy and three-dimensional image reconstruction methods to examine the native morphology of PpV01 at a resolution of 3 nm. The icosahedral capsid of PpV01 has a maximum diameter of 220 nm and is composed of 2,192 capsomers arranged with T=219 quasisymmetry. One specific capsomer in each asymmetric unit contains a fiber-like protrusion. Density attributed to the presence of a lipid membrane appears just below (inside) the capsid. PpV01 is the largest icosahedral virus whose capsid structure has been determined in three dimensions from images of vitrified samples. Striking similarities in the structures of PpV01 and a number of other large double-stranded DNA viruses are consistent with a growing body of evidence that they share a common evolutionary origin.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0378. Phone: (858) 534-5845. Fax: (858) 534-5846. E-mail: tsb{at}chem.ucsd.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0378.

Journal of Virology, July 2005, p. 9236-9243, Vol. 79, No. 14
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.14.9236-9243.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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