3D reconstruction and capsid protein characterization of grass carp reovirus

Grass carp reovirus (GCRV) is a relatively new virus first isolated in China and is a member of the Aquareovirus genus of the Reoviridae family. Recent report of genomic sequencing showed that GCRV shared high degree of homology with mammalian reovirus (MRV). As a step of our effort to understand the structural basis of GCRV pathogenesis, we determined the three-dimensional (3D) structure of GCRV capsid at 17 angstrom resolution by electron cryomicroscopy. Each GCRV capsid has a multilayered organization, consisting of an RNA core, an inner, middle and outer protein layer. The outer layer is made up of 200 trimers that are arranged on an incomplete T=13 icosahedral lattice. A characteristic feature of this layer is the depression resulting from the absence of trimers around the peripentonal positions, revealing the underlying trimers on the middle layer. There are 120 subunits in the inner layer arranged with T=1 symmetry. These structural features are common to other members of the Reoviridae. Moreover, SDS-PAGE analysis showed that GCRV virions contain seven structural proteins (VP1-VP7). These structural proteins have a high degree of sequence homology to MRV, consistent with the structural similarities observed in our study. The high structural similarities of isolated GCRV and MRV suggest that future structural studies focusing on GCRV entering into and replicating within its host cell are necessary in order to fully understand the structural basis of GCRV pathogenesis.