Petal Power By Tessa Quax and David Prangishvili, Institut...

Petal Power By Tessa Quax and David Prangishvili, Institut Pasteur The archaeal virus SIRV2 employs an unusual means of escaping from its host. A 7-faced pyramidal structure is formed on the host cell surface from virus-encoded 10kDa protein and opens like the petals on a flower (shown on the image) to release mature virus particles. Image: Colored negative contrast electron micrograph of an isolated 7-faced pyramidal structure encoded by the virus SIRV2 in open conformation.