SHENZHEN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in China's Shenzhen have observed the appearance of the novel coronavirus after inactivation using frozen electron microscopy and captured the intermediate state of the virus infecting host cells.
The Shenzhen National Clinical Medical Research Center for Infectious Diseases and Southern University of Science and Technology set up a joint research team to study the isolation, culture, identification and structure of the coronavirus since the outbreak of the COVID-19.
The research team isolated a virus strain on Jan. 27 and completed the genome sequencing and identification. They named the coronavirus strain "BetaCoV/Shenzhen/SZTH-003/2020" and shared it on the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data.
Using frozen electron microscope analysis technology, the research team not only observed the inactivated appearance of the virus but also captured an important intermediate state in the host cell infected by the virus.
The study provides an ultra-micro imaging basis for the identification and clinical research of the virus.
