English: Electron Tomogram of a Late Phagosome Enclosing Three Mimivirus Particles at Early, Advanced, and Final Uncoating Stages ( Figure 3 A) In the particle at the upper right side of the phagosome, the vertex containing the stargate is clearly visible. The tomogram provides an interpretation to the observation that two vertices appear to be modified, by showing that these two sites actually belong to the same vertex and correspond to the stargate edges. The extrusion of the viral membrane towards the phagosome membrane is visible in the particle at the bottom on the right side of the phagosome. The opening of the stargate and formation of the membrane tube through fusion of the viral and phagosomal membranes are indicated in the particle at the left region of the phagosome. Note the fusion of lysosomes with the phagosome. Each frame of the movie represents an average of ten 0.9-nm slices of a thick section of a Mimivirus particle.