X-ray powder pattern analysis of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus inclusion bodies

Cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus is an insect reovirus which is occluded in crystalline inclusion bodies that form in the mid-gut of certain insects. Inclusion bodies of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus from Bombyx mori were isolated and purified. These crystalline bodies, about 1-3 microns in linear size, were compacted in a capillary tube while immersed in buffer. X-ray diffraction photographs showed powder rings, extending to 8.2 A resolution, which could be indexed with a cell measuring a = b = 49.9 +/- 0.4 A, c = 41.5 +/- 0.4 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees. The polyhedrin protein, which is the major component of the inclusion body, has a molecular weight of about 30,000 daltons and, hence, there are probably two molecules in the unit cell. Thus, the unit cell is monoclinic or possibly triclinic. A Patterson derived from the measured powder pattern intensities, assuming monoclinic symmetry, could be interpreted in terms of a molecule with two larger globes. Such a structure is roughly consistent with the breakdown of the polyhedrin into two larger fragments of molecular weight 17,000 and 14,000 when raising the pH to near 10. Under these conditions the inclusion bodies disintegrate, releasing virus and catalyzing the proteolysis of the polyhedrin.