Partitivirus structure reveals a 120-subunit, helix-rich capsid with distinctive surface arches formed by quasisymmetric coat-protein dimers

Two distinct partitiviruses, Penicillium stoloniferum viruses S and F, can be isolated from the fungus Penicillium stoloniferum. The bisegmented dsRNA genomes of these viruses are separately packaged in icosahedral capsids containing 120 coat-protein subunits. We used transmission electron cryomicroscopy and three-dimensional image reconstruction to determine the structure of Penicillium stoloniferum virus S at 7.3 A resolution. The capsid, approximately 350 A in outer diameter, contains 12 pentons, each of which is topped by five arched protrusions. Each of these protrusions is, in turn, formed by a quasisymmetric dimer of coat protein, for a total of 60 such dimers per particle. The density map shows numerous tubular features, characteristic of alpha helices and consistent with secondary structure predictions for the coat protein. This three-dimensional structure of a virus from the family Partitiviridae exhibits both similarities to and differences from the so-called "T = 2" capsids of other dsRNA viruses.