Picornaviruses of two different genera have similar structures

Crystals of Mengo virus were used to collect three-dimensional X-ray diffraction data to 7 A resolution. A self-rotation function showed the precise orientation of the Mengo particles in the crystal unit cell. A cross-rotation function against similar data of cubic rhinovirus crystals showed a peak when the orientations of these two icosahedral viruses were superimposed. This demonstrates similarity of capsid construction between two picornaviruses of different taxonomic genera.

Virion orientation in cubic crystals of the human common cold virus HRV14

A new cubic crystal form (a = 445.1 A) of space group P23 is reported for human rhinovirus R14. There are four particles per unit cell, each situated on a crystallographic 3-fold axis. The orientation of these particles has been determined with a rotation function and their approximate positions have been derived from a Patterson map. The crystals diffract to at least 2.8 A resolution. Limitations to the possible surface features of the virus are set by a comparison of the cubic and orthorhombic crystal forms.