On size-dependent stability and infectivity of λ bacterial phages

Abstract

The elastic icosahedral capsid of λ phages plays an important role in the life cycle of these phages, such as holding the viral genome and releasing confinement for DNA ejection. Understanding how a nanosized elastic capsid guarantees the stability and infectivity of λ phages is challenging. In this article, we propose a combined nonlinear continuum and statistical mechanics model by considering the effects of DNA bending deformation, electrostatic repulsion between DNA–DNA strands, and elastic deformation of phage capsid to investigate the coupled process between capsid and DNA in packaging and ejection. Based on this model, we show that packaging DNA into immature λ phage capsid uses less force than packaging DNA into mature λ phage because of the deformability and softness of the former. Consequently, resistance to DNA packaging inside capsid decreases compared with mature ones. We also observe relationships between phage capsid size and the maximum shear stress on the inner surface of capsid and required osmotic pressure for the complete inhibition of DNA ejection. An optimized radius of capsid, i.e., around 30 nm, is found for both stable DNA packaging and effective viral infection from mechanical standpoints, which may result from physical evolution. All these findings may be interesting to toxicologists, nanotechnologists, and virologists.