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What is the shape of the nucleocapsid?

1) Polyhedral
2) Icosahedral
3) Cuboidal
4) Spherical

1 Answer

5 votes

Final answer:

The shape of the nucleocapsid is icosahedral.

Step-by-step explanation:

The shape of the nucleocapsid can be classified into four groups: helical, icosahedral, enveloped, and head-and-tail. Helical capsids are long and cylindrical, while icosahedral capsids are roughly spherical.

An icosahedral capsid is a three-dimensional, 20-sided structure with 12 vertices. It is the most efficient way of creating a hardy structure from multiple copies of a single protein. This shape is used because it can be built from a single basic unit protein, which saves space in the viral genome.

Therefore, the correct answer is icosahedral.

User Jonatascsilva
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