Ultrastructural characterization of SARS coronavirus.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was first described during a 2002-2003 global outbreak of severe pneumonia associated with human deaths and person-to-person disease transmission. The etiologic agent was initially identified as a coronavirus by thin-section electron microscopic examination of a virus isolate. Virions were spherical, 78 nm in mean diameter, and composed of a helical nucleocapsid within an envelope with surface projections. We show that infection with the SARS-associated coronavirus resulted in distinct ultrastructural features: double-membrane vesicles, nucleocapsid inclusions, and large granular areas of cytoplasm. These three structures and the coronavirus particles were shown to be positive for viral proteins and RNA by using ultrastructural immunogold and in situ hybridization assays. In addition, ultrastructural examination of a bronchiolar lavage specimen from a SARS patient showed numerous coronavirus-infected cells with features similar to those in infected culture cells. Electron microscopic studies were critical in identifying the etiologic agent of the SARS outbreak and in guiding subsequent laboratory and epidemiologic investigations.
Goldsmith
Cynthia S
CS
Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. cgoldsmith@cdc.gov
Tatti
Kathleen M
KM
Ksiazek
Thomas G
TG
Rollin
Pierre E
PE
Comer
James A
JA
Lee
William W
WW
Rota
Paul A
PA
Bankamp
Bettina
B
Bellini
William J
WJ
Zaki
Sherif R
SR
D000818:Animals; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000821:virology; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007181:Inclusion Bodies, Viral / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000821:virology; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019065:Virus Assembly
D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins