Mathematical models for tubular structures in the family of Papovaviridae

An important part of a virus is its protein shell, called the viral capsid, that protects the viral genome. While the viral capsids of viruses in the family of Papovaviridae are usually spherical, their protein building blocks are known to assemble also as tubular structures [Kiselev, N.A., Klug, A., 1969. J. Mol. Biol. 40, 155]. In Twarock [2004. J. Theor. Biol. 226, 477] Viral Tiling Theory has been introduced for the structural description of the protein stoichiometry of the spherical capsids in this family. This approach is extended here to the tubular case and is used to classify the surface lattices of tubular structures in the family of Papovaviridae. The predictions of the theory are compared with the experimental results in Kiselev and Klug [1969. J. Mol. Biol. 40, 155].