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Published on: September 27, 2014
Biophysics of viral infectivity: matching genome length with capsid size
Elmar Nurmemmedov1, Martin Castelnovo, Carlos Enrique Catalano
1Department of Biochemistry, Center for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Abstract:
In this review, we discuss recent advances in biophysical virology, presenting experimental and theoretical studies on the physical properties of viruses. We focus on the double-stranded (ds) DNA bacteriophages as model systems for all of the dsDNA viruses both prokaryotic and eukaryotic. Recent studies demonstrate that the DNA packaged into a viral capsid is highly pressurized, which provides a force for the first step of passive injection of viral DNA into a bacterial cell. Moreover, specific studies on capsid strength show a strong correlation between genome length, and capsid size and robustness. The implications of these newly appreciated physical properties of a viral particle with respect to the infection process are discussed.
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