The functional organization of the internal components of Rice dwarf virus

The capsid structures of particles of Rice dwarf virus that consisted of different components, namely, intact particles, empty particles lacking the 12 segments of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), and virus-like particles composed of only the P3 core and P8 outer capsid proteins, generated with a baculovirus gene-expression system, were determined by cryo-electron microscopy. Combining the results with those of biochemical analysis, we assigned proteins of the transcriptional machinery and dsRNA to density clusters around the 5-fold axes and along the radial concentric layers, respectively. P7 protein, a component of the transcriptional machinery, was assigned to the outermost region of the density clusters. The density connecting the transcription complex to the outermost RNA densities implied interactions between the dsRNA and the P7 protein. Our structural analysis and the non-specific nucleic acid-binding activity of P7 explain the spiral organization of dsRNA around the 5-fold axis.