The structure of the adenovirus capsid. III. Hexon packing determined from electron micrographs of capsid fragments

The orientation and relative positions of all 240 hexons in the icosahedral outer capsid of adenovirus have been determined. Two types of capsid fragments, obtained after selective disruption of the virion, were analyzed using electron microscopy and image-processing techniques. Planar inverted groups-of-nine, arising from the central region of the capsid facet, were minimally stained to reveal the morphology of restricted regions of their component hexons. Images shown to be related by correspondence analysis were averaged and features of the individual hexon molecule, known from an X-ray crystallographic investigation, were used in their interpretation. The study confirms earlier observations that the hexons in the group-of-nine are distributed on a p3 net, shows that the hexons form a close-packed array using the pseudo-hexagonal shape of the hexon base, and provides their relative positions. Twenty interlocking groups-of-nine account for 180 of the 240 hexons present in the viral capsid. The orientation of the remaining 60 peripentonal hexons was obtained from a rotationally averaged image of a quarter-capsid, a novel viral fragment comprising five complete facets. Each peripentonal hexon forms planar asymmetric interactions with two neighbors in an adjacent group-of-nine so that it lies on an extension of the p3 net. The complete facet thus consists of 12 hexons arranged on a planar p3 net, with a shape that permits interlocking of hexons at the capsid edge. The relative positions of the hexons have been determined to within 5 A using the molecular model, and indicate that the pseudo-hexagonal basal regions are close-packed in a manner that maximizes the hexon-hexon contacts. The results confirm the model proposed earlier for the arrangement of hexons within the adenovirus capsid (Burnett, 1985), and show the power of the inter-disciplinary approach.