Fig. 2: Stepwise assembly of SPP1 procapsids is initiated by the formation of precursors at the inner side of the bacterial cell membrane. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Stepwise assembly of SPP1 procapsids is initiated by the formation of precursors at the inner side of the bacterial cell membrane.

From: Subcellular reorganization upon phage infection reveals stepwise assembly of viral particles from membrane-associated precursors

Fig. 2: Stepwise assembly of SPP1 procapsids is initiated by the formation of precursors at the inner side of the bacterial cell membrane.The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

a–d Zoomed-in insets of slices from tomograms of B. subtilis infected by SPP1 displaying procapsid precursors associated with the inner side of the bacterial cell membrane at different stages of procapsid lattice growth. Notably, the complete procapsid I particle is found detached from the cell membrane in (d). Serial slices through the tomograms are provided in Supplementary Fig. 4. e–h Transparent overlay coloring of slices shown in (a–d) to highlight the internal scaffolding protein (SP; in blue; blue arrowhead) visible in precursors and in procapsids I. The major capsid protein (MCP; black arrowhead) is also annotated, and the cell membrane is overlaid in magenta. White arrowheads indicate connections between the precursors and the cell membrane. i Distribution of assembly intermediates of procapsid precursors found in tomograms according to their angle of closure (α), defined as in the cartoon on the left. The cartoon representation was created in BioRender. Corroyer, S. (2026) https://BioRender.com/ dxpz8k6. Source data are provided as Source data file 1. j Model of assembly of procapsid precursors initiated at the membrane-attached portal protein gp6 (green), followed by curvilinear co-assembly of scaffolding (gp11, blue) and major capsid (gp13, black) proteins. Created in BioRender. Corroyer, S. (2026) https://BioRender.com/ dxpz8k6.

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