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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Mar 15.
Published in final edited form as: Virology. 2010 Dec 22;411(2):163–169. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2010.11.022

Figure 1. Arenavirus particle and genome organization.

Figure 1

(A) Schematic representation of an arenavirus particle. The viral RNA is packaged into ribonucleoparticles (RNP) containing the viral nucleoprotein (NP). The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L) is associated with RNP and required for initial steps of viral transcription. The matrix protein Z associates with the inner leaflet of the viral membrane envelope and interacts with the C-terminal part of the transmembrane GP2 moiety of the mature GP decorating the virion surface. (B) The ambisense coding strategy of arenaviruses. Each of the two single-stranded RNA segments, L and S, uses an ambisense coding strategy to direct the synthesis of two polypeptides in opposite orientations and separated by an intergenic region (IGR).