Question

Some viruses can be crystallized and their structures analyzed. One such virus is yellow mottle virus, which infects beans. This virus has a single-stranded RNA genome containing about 6,300 nucleotides. Its capsid is 25-30 nm in diameter and contains 180 identical capsomeres.
1) If the yellow mottle virus capsid has 20 facets, how many proteins form each facet?
A) 1
B) 5
C) 9
D) 20
E) 180

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is c. That is 9 protein to form each facet

Explanation:

Given that the capsids is 25-30nm in diameter and it contains 180 identical capsomeres, if the virus capsid has 20 facets in 180 capsomeres, then for each protein facet, it will contain 9 protein facets.

Thai is 180 capsomeres divided by total number of facets (20).