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. 1966 Feb;91(2):803–812. doi: 10.1128/jb.91.2.803-812.1966

Biophysical Studies of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

Robert M McCombs 1, Matilda Benyesh-Melnick 1, Jean P Brunschwig 1
PMCID: PMC314933  PMID: 4286889

Abstract

McCombs, Robert M. (Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, Tex.), Matilda Benyesh-Melnick, and Jean P. Brunschwig. Biophysical studies of vesicular stomatitis virus: J. Bacteriol. 91:803–812. 1966.—The infectivity and morphology of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) were studied after density gradient centrifugation in cesium chloride (CsCI), potassium tartrate (KT), and sucrose. Centrifugation in CsCl revealed two equally infectious bands corresponding to densities of 1.19 and 1.22 g/ml, and a third (density, 1.26 g/ml) band of low infectivity. Two bands (densities of 1.16 and 1.18 g/ml) were observed in the KT gradient, in which the lighter band contained most of the infectivity. Centrifugation in sucrose resulted in a single broad infectious band (density, 1.16 g/ml). The typical rod-shaped VSV particles were found mainly in the lighter bands obtained in CsCl (1.19 g/ml) and KT (1.16 g/ml) and in the single sucrose gradient band (1.16 g/ml). Bent particles equally as infectious as the rod-shaped particles were a constant finding in the CsCl preparations, and were observed mainly in the second band (density, 1.19 g). Numerous strands 15mμ wide were found in the third CsCl (density, 1.26 g/ml) and the second KT (1.18 g/ml) bands. Similar strands could be liberated from VSV particles after treatment with deoxycholate. Internal transverse striations were found to be a regular feature of VSV particles examined with the pseudoreplication negative-staining technique. For crude virus stocks, the physical particle-to-infectivity ratio ranged from 73 to 194. Several morphological similarities between VSV and myxoviruses were observed, including 10 mμ surface projections, pleomorphic morphological forms, and 15 mμ seemingly nucleoprotein strands.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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