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. 2020 Oct 13;59(1):e126. doi: 10.1002/cpmc.126

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Virion structure and genomic organization of SARS‐CoV‐2. (A) Schematic representation of SARS‐CoV‐2 virion: The lipid bilayer surface of SARS‐CoV‐2 is decorated by the envelope (E), membrane protein (M), and spike (S) glycoproteins. S is the viral protein responsible for attachment and entry. Inside the virion is the positive‐sense, single‐stranded RNA viral genome that is encapsulated by the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein. (B) Schematic representation of SARS‐CoV‐2 genome organization: SARS‐CoV‐2 has a genome of ∼29,930 nucleotides. At the end of the viral genome are located the 5′ and 3′ untranslated non‐coding regions (NCR). The SARS‐CoV‐2 genome encodes for the viral ORF1a (orange) and ORF1b (blue). ORF1a polyprotein is cleaved into leader protein (SAR2), nsp2, nsp4, nsp4, 3C‐like proteinase (SAR3), nsp6, nsp7, nsp8, nsp9, nsp10, and nsp11. ORF1b polyprotein is generated through a ribosomal frameshift, and cleaved into the RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase, RdRp (nsp12), helicase, 3′‐to‐5′ exonuclease (SAR4), endoRNase, and 2′‐O‐ribose methyltransferase (SAR5). After the ORF1ab, SARS‐CoV‐2 genome encodes for the viral structural S, E, M and N proteins, along with the accessory proteins 3a, 6, 7a, 7b, 8, and 10.