Assembly and Disassembly of Deltahedral Viral Shells

We examine the assembly and disassembly of T = 13 viral shells using a deformable version of the Caspar-Klug deltahedral model. As the cohesive energy is reduced, the shell releases elastic energy by rupturing. The path of rupture is determined by the intrinsic elastic stress pattern of icosahedral shells. Surprisingly, spherical shells are more prone to rupture than icosahedral shells. Next, assembly of a T = 13 deltahedral shell is shown to be impossible along the conventional pathway of compact partial shells. Instead, we propose a non-compact assembly pathway, with the elastic energy directing the assembly through 'Whiffle-Ball' type assembly intermediates.