Archives of Virology
All 1996 volumes.
ISSN 0304-8608
Springer-Verlag Wien
Legend
Computer graphics of the three-dimensional structure of bean pod mottle virus. The surface of virions has been radially depth-cued to enhance depiction of surface topography. Virions on the left appear in various orientations; prominent structures protrude at axes of 5-fold symmetry (yellow); deep depressions occur at axes of 2-fold symmetry; and small surface ridges are visible at axes of 3-fold symmetry. The virion at the right has been sliced through is center to reveal interior features. Capsid protein atoms are delineated as blue spheres to show the capsid thickness (<10 Å at 2-fold axes, > 40 Å at 5-fold axes). About 20% of the virion RNA was detected; it appears as trefoils (pink) at axes of 3-fold symmetry. In the foreground an edge of a virion appeats at close range. The structure of this virus was solved in the laboratory of J.E. Johnson, then at Purdue University (Chen et al., Science 245:154-159 (1989)). The illustration was created on a Silicon Graphics Workstation, using the program GRASP as developped by Anthony Nicholls of Columbia University. The image was composed and produced by Jean-Yves Sgro of the Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin, 1525 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706-1596 USA.
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