Figure Legends
Figure 1. Driving forces for TMV assembly. TMV CP experiences
various interactions, including hydrophobic interactions, RNA
initiation, electrostatic interactions in the Caspar carboxylate cluster
(CCC), hydrogen bonding, and RNA-protein interaction at different stages
of assembly.
Figure 2 . Some potential applications of nanomaterials
templated on TMV, BSMV and their VLPs.
Figure 3. Emerging opportunities to accelerate development of
TMV, BSMV and their VLPs. In the “design” phase, VLPs with specific
properties (e.g. conjugation to an enzyme via noncanonical amino acids)
for an application guide the design of DNA sequences that are then
rapidly assembled in the “build” phase. Advanced DNA synthesis methods
rapidly assemble DNA to produce thousands of variants while host
engineering boosts VLP production. In the “test” phase, these
constructs are expressed and screened. Directed evolution develops VLPs
with desirable features while cell-free systems enable high-throughput
screening. In the “learn” phase, characterization of the resulting
products and analysis via empirical and machine learning approaches
refine the initial design ultimately leading to an optimal biotemplate
and bioproduction platform.