Conformation of the helical nucleocapsids of paramyxoviruses and vesicular stomatitis virus: reversible coiling and uncoiling induced by changes in salt concentration.

The conformations of the helical nucleocapsids of the paramyxoviruses Sendai virus and simian virus 5, and of a rhabdovirus, vesicular stomatitis virus, have been found to vary extensively with changes in salt concentration. In 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 7.2, the nucleocapsids are loosely coiled or almost completely extended; with increasing concentrations of NaCl they become more tightly coiled and less flexible. Under isotonic conditions (150 mM) the Sendai virus nucleocapsid is moderately tightly coiled but still curved and apparently flexible, whereas at 400 mM or higher it is very tightly coiled, with the appearance of a rigid rod. These salt-dependent changes in conformation were also found with nucleocapsids composed of proteolytically cleaved protein subunits. Because of the effect of salt concentration, and the fact that it may change during the preparation of negatively stained samples of electron microscopy, it was necessary to fix that nucleocapsids before negative staining to preserve their original conformation. The striking changes in nucleocapsid conformation in response to the ionic milieu indicate the plasticity of its helical structure and suggest that changes in the microenvironment of the nucleocapsid could influence its conformation during viral RNA transcription and replication or during virus assembly by budding, processes in which changes in the coiling of the nucleocapsid or its flexibility could be important.