Figure 1.

Schematic of herpesvirus virion. The herpesvirus virion is composed of an icosahedral capsid containing the double-stranded DNA genome, a lipid envelope decorated with virally encoded glycoproteins, and a layer filled with proteins termed the tegument which resides between the capsid and the envelope. The likely sites for packaged coding and non-coding RNAs are the tegument and the capsid. There is evidence for RNA–protein interactions in the tegument, but it is unclear whether all packaged RNAs interact with tegument proteins. Although it is possible, we are unaware of evidence for protein–RNA interactions in the nucleus, or RNA–RNA interactions in either the nucleus or tegument.