Energies and pressures in viruses: contribution of nonspecific electrostatic interactions

TL;DR

This paper analyzes electrostatic interactions in viruses, deriving expressions for energies and pressures, highlighting differences between RNA viruses and DNA bacteriophages based on genome charge distribution.

Contribution

It provides a simplified, reliable approach to quantify electrostatic energies and osmotic pressures in viruses, emphasizing differences due to genome charge distribution.

Findings

Distinct free energy behaviors for RNA and DNA viruses

Electrostatic energies depend on capsid size and charge

Osmotic pressure variations relate to genome charge distribution

Abstract

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 for electrostatic energies and the corresponding osmotic pressures in single-stranded RNA viruses and double-stranded DNA bacteriophages. The two types of viruses differ crucially in the spatial distribution of their genome charge which leads to essential differences in their free energies, depending on the capsid size and total charge in a quite different fashion. Differences in the free energies are trailed by the corresponding characteristics and variations in the osmotic pressure between the inside of the virus and the external bathing solution.