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Updated: Aug 22, 2025

Advancing High-Resolution Imaging of Virus Assemblies in Liquid and Ice
Published on: July 20, 2022
Electron cryotomography of SARS-CoV-2 virions reveals cylinder-shaped particles with a double layer RNP assembly
Lesley J Calder1, Thomas Calcraft1, Saira Hussain2,3
1Structural Biology of Cells and Viruses Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT, London, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
SARS-CoV-2 is a lipid-enveloped Betacoronavirus and cause of the Covid-19 pandemic. To study the three-dimensional architecture of the virus, we perform electron cryotomography (cryo-ET) on SARS-Cov-2 virions and three variants revealing particles of regular cylindrical morphology. The ribonucleoprotein particles packaging the genome in the virion interior form a dense, double layer assembly with a cylindrical shape related to the overall particle morphology. This organisation suggests structural interactions important to virus assembly.
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