We have studied interactions between nucleocapsids and glycoproteins required for budding of alphaviruses, using Ross River virus-Sindbis virus chimeras in which the nucleocapsid protein is derived from one virus and the envelope glycoproteins are derived from the second virus. A virus containing the Ross River virus genome in which the capsid protein had been replaced with that from Sindbis vi...

The Glossina pallidipes salivary gland hypertrophy virus (GpSGHV) is a dsDNA virus with rod-shaped, enveloped virions. Its 190 kb genome contains 160 putative protein-coding ORFs. Here, the structural components, protein composition and associated aspects of GpSGHV morphogenesis and cytopathology were investigated. Four morphologically distinct structures: the nucleocapsid, tegument, envelope a...

During the lifecycle of many enveloped viruses, a nucleocapsid core buds through the cell membrane to acquire an outer envelope of lipid membrane and viral glycoproteins. However, the presence of a nucleocapsid core is not required for assembly of infectious particles. To determine the role of the nucleocapsid core, we develop a coarse-grained computational model with which we investigate buddi...

Hendra virus (HeV) is a recently emerged severe human pathogen that belongs to the Henipavirus genus within the Paramyxoviridae family. The HeV genome is encapsidated by the nucleoprotein (N) within a helical nucleocapsid. Recruitment of the viral polymerase onto the nucleocapsid template relies on the interaction between the C-terminal domain, N(TAIL), of N and the C-terminal X domain, XD, of ...

Nucleocapsid (N) proteins from representative viruses of three genera within the Paramyxoviridae were expressed in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses. RNA-containing structures, which appear morphologically identical to viral nucleocapsids, were isolated and subsequently imaged under a transmission electron microscope. Analysis of these images revealed marked differences in nucleocaps...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major human pathogen that chronically infects approximately 350 million people, causing liver disease and liver cancer. HBV virions bud into an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated intracellular compartment, but the mechanisms of HBV assembly, budding, and release remain poorly understood. Budding of retroviruses and some other enveloped RNA viruses from plasma mem...

Recently, the isolation of a novel virus, GB virus C (GBV-C), associated with cryptogenic hepatitis has been reported. Following the molecular cloning of this virus genome, it became apparent that the genomic sequence did not encode a protein resembling a nucleocapsid or core-like protein similar to those observed in other flaviviruses, pestiviruses, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and GB virus B. Simi...

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an important human and equine pathogen in the Americas, with widespread reoccurring epidemics extending from South America to the southern United States. Most troubling, VEEV has been made into a weapon by several countries and is currently restricted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a potential biological warfare and terrorism ...