Structure of an insect virus at 3.0 Å resolution

We report the first atomic resolution structure of an insect virus determined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction. Black beetle virus has a bipartite RNA genome encapsulated in a single particle. The capsid contains 180 protomers arranged on a T = 3 surface lattice. The quaternary organization of the protomers is similar to that observed in the T = 3 plant virus structures. The protomers consist of a basic, crystallographically disordered amino terminus (64 residues), a β‐barrel as seen in other animal and plant virus subunits, an outer protrusion composed predominantly of β‐sheet and formed by three large insertions between strands of the barrel, and a carboxy terminal domain composed of two distorted helices lying inside the shell. The outer surfaces of quasi‐threefold related protomers form trigonal pyramidyl protrusions. A cleavage site, located 44 residues from the carboxy terminus, lies within the central cavity of the protein shell.

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