Production of Platinum Atom Nanoclusters at One End of Helical Plant Viruses

Figure 4

Partial uncoating of TMV and Pt-NPs complexes by 6 M urea. Uncoating was allowed to proceed at 0°C for 5 min in 6 M urea and 60 mM sodium phosphate at a virus concentration of 0.5 mg/mL. Shadowed samples (see Section 2) were examined with a Jeol JEM1011 microscope. Analysis was conducted on 130 uncoated partially TMV particles. Left: ((a), (b)) show a loop of the free RNA released from TMV particle retained by Pt nanoparticle and (c) shows the partially hydrolyzed linear RNA. It is important to note that RNA has secondary structure under spreading conditions. Right: ((a)–(c)) merge images with inked over RNA strand.