Single-molecule studies of viral DNA packaging

Abstract

Many double-stranded DNA bacteriophages and viruses use specialized ATP-driven molecular machines to package their genomes into tightly confined procapsid shells. Over the last decade, single-molecule approaches - and in particular, optical tweezers - have made key contributions to our understanding of this remarkable process. In this chapter, we review these advances and the insights they have provided on the packaging mechanisms of three bacteriophages: φ 29, λ, and T4. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.