English

Do All Spherical Viruses Have Icosahedral Symmetry?

Biological Physics 2009-02-24 v2 General Physics

Abstract

Recent high resolution structures for viral capsids with 12, 32 and 72 subunits (T1T1, T3T3 and T7T7 viruses) have confirmed theoretical predictions of an icosadeltahedral structure with 12 subunits having five nearest neighbors (pentamers) and (10T+2)12(10T+2)-12 subunits having six nearest neighbor subunits (hexamers). Here we note that theoretical considerations of energy strain for T4T4, T9T9 T16T16 and T25T25 viruses by aligned pentamers and energy strain along with the sheer number of possible arrangement of pentamers as the number of subunits grows, and simulations for such numbers of subunits make an icosadeltahedral configuration either miraculously unlikely or indicate that there must be a principle of capsid assembly of unprecedented fidelity in Nature. We predict, for example, that high resolution data will show T4T4 capsids to have D5hD_{5h} not icosahedral symmetry.

Cite

@article{arxiv.0902.3566,
  title  = {Do All Spherical Viruses Have Icosahedral Symmetry?},
  author = {Eric Lewin Altschuler and Antonio Pérez--Garrido},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0902.3566},
  year   = {2009}
}
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