VIRUS PICTURES: PLANT VIRUSES / Tobacco Mosaic Virus, TMV

Artwork of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus, TMV, a helical filamentous virus of plants. Above image measures 700 pixels across, original image is 2220 pixels across

TMV is about 300nm long and about 18nm across. It is built from protein (purple) that is arranged in a right handed helix that forms a long hollow rigid tube. The viral genome, + ss RNA, is wound within this helix and is drawn as a yellow ring (right hand end of the virus) in this picture.