This image is a computer-generated model of the surface of an alphavirus derived by cryoelectron microscopy. The spike-like structures on the virion surface are trimers composed of heterodimers of the virion surface glycoproteins E1 and E2. These spikes are used by the virus to attach to susceptible animal cells.
Alphaviruses are RNA-containing viruses that cause a wide variety of mosquito-transmitted disease. Alphaviruses of importance in the United States are eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), western equine encephalitis (WEE), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE).
Source:[1] CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases.
Surface of an Alphavirus
This image is a computer-generated model of the surface of an alphavirus derived by cryoelectron microscopy. The spike-like structures on the virion surface are trimers composed of heterodimers of the virion surface glycoprotein