Virus Structure

Virus Structure describes the physical characteristics of isolated viruses that represent typical structural groups, with particular reference to those features analyzed with the aid of the electron microscope.
For descriptive purposes, the book has been divided into sections starting with the small icosahedral viruses and leading to the larger and more sophisticated structures, regardless of whether they are animal, plant, or bacterial viruses. These include double-stranded DNA icosahedral viruses, herpesvirus, viruses with helical symmetry, and viruses with complex or a combination of symmetries. Many common architectural features will be found in those viruses selected for discussion in each of the sections, and for these reasons the introduction places some emphasis on the symmetry elements rather than the shapes of viruses. The mechanism by which viruses enter host cells and the events that follow once the cell has been infected are only mentioned briefly as the virus-host interaction is a relatively complex one.

Series Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Units of Measurement

Terminology

Symmetry in Virions

Helical Symmetry

Icosahedral Symmetry

Structure Units and Capsid Triangulation Number

Virus Nucleic Acid and Core Structure

Small DNA Icosahedral Viruses

The Structure and Dimensions of φX174 Virus

Small RNA Icosahedral Viruses (Napoviruses and Picornaviruses )

Poliovirus (Picornavirus)

Double-Stranded DNA Icosahedral Viruses

Papovaviruses

Adenoviruses

Herpesvirus

Tipula Iridescent Virus

Viruses with Helical Symmetry

Myxoviruses

Viruses with Complex or a Combination of Symmetries

The Bullet-Shaped Viruses (Rhabdovirus)

The Tailed Bacteriophages

The Poxviruses

Summary

References

Index