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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 16: Poster Session I
BP 16.28: Poster
Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 17:00–19:30, Poster D
Bacteriophage HK97 studied by nanoindentation — •Wouter H. Roos1, Irena L. Ivanovska1, John E. Johnson2, and Gijs J. L. Wuite1 — 1Fysica van complexe systemen, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Niederlande — 2Molecular biology, Scripps Research institute, La Jolla, CA, U.S.A.
After procapsids of bacteriophage HK97 have self-assembled, they mature and subsequently package dsDNA. The maturation process is accompanied by an expansion of the capsid, together with a crosslinking of the capsid proteins. We perform nanoindentation experiments using atomic force microscopy to probe the elastic properties of the HK97 shells at different states of maturation. We also determine the breaking force, i.e. the minimum force which is needed to deform the shell irreversibly.