Final answer:
When Bs1A is assembled as an octamer, L76, L77, and L79 are likely to be oriented toward the solvent-exposed exterior of the protein assembly.
Step-by-step explanation:
When the Bs1A protein is assembled as an octamer, it is most likely that L76, L77, and L79 are oriented toward the solvent-exposed exterior of the protein assembly (option A).
This is because solvent-exposed sites are more likely to have polar or charged amino acids, which L76, L77, and L79 are.
The assembly would incur an entropic penalty if these residues occupied a solvent-exposed site (option B), and unlike in a monomer, they are situated within the hydrophobic cap (option C).
Additionally, the physiochemical properties of these residues are substantially dependent on their hydrophobicity (option D).