Rabies Virus
Products of sequential degradation
Steven K. Vernon
WHRI, Wyeth-Ayerst Research, Radnor, Pa.
All samples were negatively stained with sodium phosphotungstate or ammonium molybdate.
Bullet-shaped rabies virions with glycoprotein-studded envelopes. The "spikes" cover the entire envelope surface, including the quasiplanar ends of the viruses. End-on views of the spikes produce honeycomb patterns over the envelope surface. Negative stain has penetrated axial channels in the two viruses on the left.
A portion of the envelope of a stain-penetrated virus envelope. An electron-transparent layer is studded with glycoprotein spikes, each of which consists of an external, wedge-shaped knob on a stalk that enters the electron-transparent layer.
Viral ribonucleoprotein (RNP) coils in stain-penetrated rabies virions. In (a), striations of the helical RNP are visible along the length of the virus. Stain outlines RNP in the particles in (b-d), all of which have disrupted envelopes. The circular particle in (e) is an end-on view of a stain-penetrated virus; its RNP spirals toward the central axis as the envelope narrows at the rounded end. Subunits give the coiled strand a "beaded" appearance.
RNP spread over the carbon film after its release from a disrupted virion.
Exposure of helical RNP by deenvelopment of virions. The envelope of the leftmost virus, shown at an early stage of deenvelopment, has been "wrinkled" during treatment with a surfactant. The other structures are RNP helices that retain their intraviral shapes after being deenveloped in situ.
Diagrammatic representation of the rabies virion deduced from electron microscopy and protein analyses.(Adapted from J. Ultrastruct. Res. 41: 29-42 [1972])
References
Vernon, S., Neurath, A., & Rubin, B. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 41: 29-42 (1972)
Neurath, A., Vernon, S., Dobkin, M., & Rubin, B. J. Gen. Virol. 14: 33-48 (1972)
Neurath, A., Vernon, S., Wiener, F., Hartzell, R., & Rubin, B. Microbios 7: 7-15 (1973)