Physical Structure of the Genomic Material
Jordanka S. Zlatanova, Kensal E. van Holde · Garland Science eBooks · 2023
This chapter presents an overview of the protein–nucleic acid complexes that are involved, focusing on those that determine the functioning of the genetic material. The genomes of all organisms are compacted by interaction with specific proteins to fit the confines of the cell. Viruses need to carry in their genomes only a minimum of information: to construct particles that can enter a cell, replicate their nucleic acid and essential proteins, and then exit the cell. Viral genomes come in a remarkable variety of forms. The polynucleotide may be DNA or RNA, and it may be single-stranded or double-stranded. The protein shell that surrounds the viral DNA or RNA, known as the capsid, is just sufficient to contain the genome, to permit the virus to get into a host cell, and to allow the newly replicated viruses within to escape to infect other cells.