A common polyhedral capsid shape of viruses is a _.

Correct answer: C. Icosahedron

  • A. Pentagon
  • B. Cube
  • C. Icosahedron
  • D. Pyramid

Explanation

Polyhedral viruses consist of nucleic acid surrounded by a polyhedral (many-sided) shell or capsid, usually in the form of an icosahedron.Option A,B and D are wrong because virus capsids predominantly come in two shapes: helical and icosahedral. The helix (plural: helices) is a spiral shape that curves cylindrically around an axis. It is also a common biological structure: many proteins have sections that have a helical shape, and DNA is a double-helix of nucleotides.

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