Cryo-Electron Microscopy of Viruses

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a structural technique that images biological macromolecules in native-like conditions, and has been widely applied to the study of viruses. Virus structures have been determined by cryo-EM at resolutions ranging from molecular (~30–50 Å) to near-atomic (~4 Å). Here we introduce cryo-EM of virus particles for the non-expert reader and review how some of the key cryo-EM studies have advanced our understanding of virus biology. We also describe the latest advances in cryo-EM. These advances are on the one hand driving cryo-EM studies of symmetric viruses towards atomic resolution. On the other, they are developing structural methods that allow the study of individual, pleiomorphic virus particles and the interactions they make with cellular machinery.