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Co-expression of the capsid proteins of Cowpea mosaic virus in insect cells leads to the formation of virus-like particles

Department of Virus Research, John Innes Centre, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK¹

Author for correspondence: George Lomonossoff. Fax +44 1603 450045. e-mail George.Lomonossoff{at}bbsrc.ac.uk

The regions of RNA-2 of Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) that encode the Large (L) and Small (S) coat proteins were expressed either individually or together in Spodoptera frugiperda (sf21) cells using baculovirus vectors. Co-expression of the two coat proteins from separate promoters in the same construct resulted in the formation of virus-like particles whose morphology closely resembled that of native CPMV virions. No such particles were formed when the individual L and S proteins were expressed. Sucrose gradient centrifugation of the virus-like particles showed that they had the sedimentation characteristics of empty (protein-only) shells. The results confirm that the 60 kDa L–S fusion is not an obligate intermediate in the virion assembly pathway and indicate that expression of the coat proteins in insect cells will provide a fruitful route for the study of CPMV morphogenesis.