Multimedia Gallery - Visualization

Visualizing a Viral Protein Coat

Better understanding of viral protein coats helps researchers develop improved vaccines and treatments for viral illnesses.The image shows the MS2 bacteriophage, a virus whose genome was one of the first ever determined. Part of NIH-supported research and tool development led by Professor Philip Bourne SDSC/UCSD, the image shows the complete viral protein coat, attached to short pieces of the viral genome (14 bases out of 3,569 total). The viral coat is made up of a single protein repeated 60 times (ribbon), creating a sphere that holds only the viral genetic information (shown as spheres and cylinders) and a single protein related to maturation (not shown).

Created at the San Diego Supercomputer Center by J. Beaver using ProteinWorkshop, a product of the RCSB PDB, and built using the Molecular Biology Toolkit developed by SDSC’s J. Moreland and A. Gramada.
Source: San Diego Supercomputer Center, UC San Diego

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