We review approaches aimed at deciphering the physical mechanisms responsible for viral
structure and assembly. We discuss the basic principles of condensed matter physics …

Bacteriophage T4 is the most well-studied member of Myoviridae, the most complex family of
tailed phages. T4 assembly is divided into three independent pathways: the head, the tail …

An ATP-powered DNA translocation machine encapsidates the viral genome in the large
dsDNA bacteriophages. The essential components include the empty shell, prohead, and …

Sixty years after Hershey and Chase showed that nucleic acid is the major component of
phage particles that is ejected into cells, we still do not fully understand how the process …

Dense packaging of genomic DNA is crucial for organismal survival, as DNA length always
far exceeds the dimensions of the cells that contain it. Organisms, therefore, use …

Recent experiments showed that the linear double-stranded DNA in bacteriophage capsids
is both highly knotted and neatly structured. What is the physical basis of this organization …

Tailed dsDNA bacteriophage virions bind to susceptible cells with the tips of their tails and
then deliver their DNA through the tail into the cells to initiate infection. This chapter …

Large dsDNA bacteriophages and herpesviruses encode a powerful ATP-driven DNA-
translocating machine that encapsidates a viral genome into a preformed capsid shell or …

In this chapter, we describe the structure, assembly, function, and evolution of the long,
noncontractile tail of the siphophages, which comprise∼ 60% of the phages on earth. We …

We summarize some aspects of electrostatic interactions in the context of viruses. A
simplified but, within well defined limitations, reliable approach is used to derive expressions …