I-symmetry, the highest chiral point group, and the icosahedral structure of virus particles

G. B. Robert*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Small molecules exhibiting I-symmetry, the member of highest order amongst the five chiral point groups, have yet to be made. However, many virus particles such as the human adenovirus exhibit icosahedral symmetry. The handedness of the subunits being exchanged or permutated by symmetry operations in these supramolecular structures remain invariant since their protein constituents contain L-amino acids. This is only consistent with the existence of symmetry operations of the first kind, and thus these chiral icosahedral ensembles provide suitable examples of I-symmetry.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)479-483
Number of pages5
JournalEnantiomer
Volume2
Issue number6
StatePublished - 1997

Keywords

  • Chirality
  • High symmetry
  • I-point group
  • Icosahedral
  • Symmetry
  • Virus

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