Nanoscale organization of rotavirus replication machineries

Rotavirus genome replication and assembly take place in cytoplasmic electron dense inclusions termed viro-plasms (VPs). Previous conventional optical microscopy studies observing the intracellular distribution of rotavirus proteins and their organization in VPs have lacked molecular-scale spatial resolution, due to inherent spatial resolution constraints. In this work we employed super-resolution microscopy to reveal the nanometric-scale organization of VPs formed during rotavirus infection, and quantitatively describe the structural organization of seven viral proteins and viral dsRNA within and around the VPs. The observed viral components are spatially organized as 6 concentric layers, in which NSP5 localizes at the center of the VPs, surrounded by a layer of NSP2 and NSP4 proteins, followed by an intermediate zone comprised of the VP1, VP2, VP6 proteins and the dsRNA. In the outermost zone, we observed a ring of VP4 and finally a layer of VP7. These findings show that rotavirus VPs are highly organized organelles.