Simulation Studies of A Phenomenological Model for the Assembly of Elongated Virus Capsids

We extend our previously developed general approach (1) to study a phenomenological model in which the simulated packing of hard, attractive spheres on a prolate spheroid surface with convexity constraints produces structures identical to those of prolate virus capsid structures. Our simulation approach combines the traditional Monte Carlo method with the method of random sampling on an ellipsoidal surface and a convex hull searching algorithm. Using this approach we study the assembly and structural origin of non-icosahedral, elongated virus capsids, such as two aberrant flock house virus (FHV) particles and the prolate prohead of bacteriophage phi29, and discuss the implication of our simulation results in the context of recent experimental findings.