What is the symmetry of Ebola virus?
Lattice map revealing the helical symmetry of Ebola NC. Single-NP subunits often appear on consecutive rungs along higher-order helical symmetries, forming “seams” along the NC helix.
What is the capsid structure of the Ebola virus?
Structure and molecular make up of Ebola by Ryan Sullivan Like many viruses, Ebola has a helical capsid (Noda 2010). What sets Ebola apart from most viruses is that its nucleocapsid changes into many different shapes, from circular filaments to long, branched filaments as seen in Figure 1 (Noda 2010).
Is Ebola helical or icosahedral?
Filoviruses (Ebola) are helical, non-segmented, negative, single-stranded RNA viruses, polymorphic, noninfectious, and have variable lengths. Infectious Ebola virions are usually 920 nm in length, 80 nm in diameter, and have a membrane stolen from the host cell by budding.
What is the size of Ebola virus?
Ebola Virus Classification Ebola viruses belong to a family of viruses termed Filoviridae. Filovirus particles form long, sometimes branched, filaments of varying shapes, as well as shorter filaments, and may measure up to 14,000 nanometers in length with a diameter of 80 nanometers.
What is a filamentous virus?
Filamentous viruses are long and cylindrical. Many plant viruses are filamentous, including TMV (tobacco mosaic virus). Isometric viruses have shapes that are roughly spherical, such as poliovirus or herpesviruses. Enveloped viruses have membranes surrounding capsids.
Does Ebola have an envelope?
The Ebola virus is an “enveloped virus,” meaning that the core of the virus is surrounded by a lipoprotein outer layer. Enveloped viruses such as Ebola are more susceptible to destruction with a number of physical and chemical agents than viruses without lipoprotein envelopes (Figure).
Is Ebola a filamentous virus?
Ebola virus is a highly pathogenic filovirus causing severe hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates. It assembles heterogenous, filamentous, enveloped virus particles containing a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome packaged within a helical nucleocapsid (NC).
What is a capsid in a virus?
Viral capsids are the protein cage derived from the protein shell of a virus, and can have different shapes, sizes, and protein subunits, depending on the virus type [101].
What is Ebola classified as?
Ebola virus is a class A bioterrorism agent, known to cause highly lethal hemorrhagic fever. The mortality rate can be as high as 90 percent. Because the Ebola virus is so hazardous, it is classified as a biosafety level 4 agent – the level assigned to the most dangerous agents known.
What is the site of capsid assembly in a virus?
Also considered in viral classification is the site of capsid assembly and, in enveloped viruses, the site of envelopment. Structure and Function Viruses are inert outside the host cell.
What are the arms of the Ebola virus?
The NC within the virion forms a left-handed helix with an inner nucleoprotein layer decorated with protruding arms composed of VP24 and VP35. A comparison with the closely related Marburg virus shows that the N-terminal region of nucleoprotein defines the inner diameter of the Ebola virus NC, whereas the RNA genome defines its length.
How are the particles of the Ebola virus assembled?
It assembles heterogenous, filamentous, enveloped virus particles containing a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome packaged within a helical nucleocapsid (NC). We have used cryo-electron microscopy and tomography to visualize Ebola virus particles, as well as Ebola virus-like particles, in three dimensions in a near-native state.
How are proteins arranged in a virus capsid?
Self assembly of virus capsids follows two basic patterns: helical symmetry, in which the protein subunits and the nucleic acid are arranged in a helix, and icosahedral symmetry, in which the protein subunits assemble into a symmetric shell that covers the nucleic acid-containing core. Table 41-1