ABSTRACT
An important constituent of a virus is its capsid, that is a shell formed from proteins that encapsulates the viral genome. The capsids of a large number of viruses have overall icosahedral symmetry, which suggests the use of group theoretical methods for their description. Viral Tiling Theory combines group theory with tiling theory in order to model the surface structures of viral capsids and their tubular variants. It predicts the locations of the protein subunits and the inter-subunit bonds in the capsids and forms a basis for the construction of assembly models.
