Genus-specific recruitment of filovirus ribonucleoprotein complexes into budding particles

The filoviral matrix protein VP40 orchestrates virus morphogenesis and budding. To do this it interacts with both the glycoprotein (GP(1,2)) and the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex components; however, these interactions are still not well understood. Here we show that for efficient VP40-driven formation of transcription and replication-competent virus-like particles (trVLPs), which contain both an RNP complex and GP(1,2), the RNP components and VP40, but not GP(1,2) and VP40, must be from the same genus. trVLP preparations contained both spherical and filamentous particles, but only the latter were able to infect target cells and to lead to genome replication and transcription. Interestingly, the genus specificity of the VP40-RNP interactions was specific to the formation of filamentous trVLPs, but not to spherical particles. These results not only further our understanding of VP40 interactions, but also suggest that special care is required when using trVLP or VLP systems to model virus morphogenesis.