Fig. 6.

A model of geminate particle assembly. Five CP subunits assemble into a penton, the building block of the geminate capsid. A DNA stem loop specifically binds to the N terminus of a CP subunit triggering 23 amino acids in the N terminus to become ordered and adopt the chain H conformation (blue). The neighboring subunit also undergoes a conformational change where eight amino acids in the N-terminal become ordered and adopt chain I conformation (maroon). The combination of these conformational changes allows the interface of a geminate capsid to assemble at the equator. Finally, the hemicapsids are assembled by addition of CP pentons