VESICULAR STOMATITIS VIRUS-M PROTEIN MAY BE INSIDE THE RIBONUCLEOCAPSID COIL

Vesicular stomatitis virus is an enveloped virus with an external glyc oprotein G and a nucleocapsid that form, together with the M protein, a tight helically coiled structure: the skeleton. Negative staining an d immunoelectron microscopy studies on skeleton preparations were perf ormed to determine the localization of the M protein. These studies ha ve resulted in a new model for the structure of rhabdoviruses in which the nucleocapsid is wound around a core containing the M protein. Thi s model predicts contact between M and lipid only at the extreme ends of the skeleton, which is confirmed by skeleton-liposome binding studi es.