The armored virus was detected by an international team of scientists from Stanford, the Scripps Research Institute, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Their findings are published in the Sept. 22 issue of the journal Science. A typical virus consists of little more than a chromosome of DNA or RNA wrapped in a protein coat. Although viruses are among the simplest microbes, determining their molecular structure requires very sophisticated instrumentation. The authors of the Science study used special micro-imaging techniques to analyze the outer coating of a virus called bacteriophage HK97.
Bacteriophages are viruses that only infect bacteria.
They come in very bizarre shapes, some of which resemble NASA-designed satellites or Martian landers. HK97 is no exception. It has an odd, balloon-shaped head attached to a short tail. Together, the rings form a rigid, spherical cage shaped like a 20-sided soccer ball. Interlocking molecular rings, called catenanes, are an important focus of biochemical research.