This giant virus just gave up its atomic blueprint

A research group has successfully determined, for the first time in the world, the capsid (outer shell) structure of Melbournevirus—a member of the giant virus family—at a resolution of 4.4 Å using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The work is published in the journal Viruses. The team was led by Project Professor Kazuyoshi Murata at the Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS) / National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), in collaboration with Senior Researcher Kenta Okamoto at Uppsala University and Professor Chantal Abergel at Aix-Marseille University.