Kinetics of incorporation of structural proteins into Sindbis virions.

The morphogenesis of Sindbis virus was studied by determining the kinetics with which newly synthesized nucleocapsid and envelope proteins appeared in virions released into the extracellular medium. Assembly of the nucleocapsid was more rapid than modification of the cellular membrane by the addition of the viral envelope protein. However, both viral structural proteins were efficiently incorporated into virions; a 0.5-hr pulse-labeling period resulted in the release of maximally labeled virus during the next hour. When protein synthesis was inhibited, release of virus soon declined even though large amounts of both viral structural proteins were present within the cell and ribonucleic acid replication was unaffected.