page_title: Peplomer
hierarchical_section_title: Peplomer
caption_attribution_description: English: This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
context_page_description: A peplomer is a glycoprotein spike on a viral capsid or viral envelope. These protrusions bind only to certain receptors on the host cell. They are essential for both host specificity and viral infectivity.
  The tail fibers of some bacteriophages, especially the T4-like phages, are modified peplomers.
  Influenza virus has two kinds of peplomers:
  Triangular, spike-shaped "haemagglutinin"
  Mushroom-shaped "neuraminidase".
context_section_description: A peplomer is a glycoprotein spike on a viral capsid or viral envelope. These protrusions bind only to certain receptors on the host cell. They are essential for both host specificity and viral infectivity. 
  The tail fibers of some bacteriophages, especially the T4-like phages, are modified peplomers.
  Influenza virus has two kinds of peplomers: 
  Triangular, spike-shaped "haemagglutinin"
  Mushroom-shaped "neuraminidase".
caption: The peplomers (red and orange) of a coronavirus.
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