quasisymmetry
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]quasisymmetry (countable and uncountable, plural quasisymmetries)
- (mathematics) A mapping that preserves shape but allows size to change in a well-defined manner.
- (biology) A pattern in which many copies of a viral protein form a huge spherical coating, where each subunit has an almost symmetrical arrangement with its neighbors.
- 2013, G.E. Schulz, R.H. Schirmer, Principles of Protein Structure, page 99:
- So-called “quasisymmetry” occurs if all subunits are chemically identical but have two slightly different conformations so that slightly different contacts can be made.
- 2016, David S. Goodsell, Atomic Evidence: Seeing the Molecular Basis of Life, page 72:
- Evolution blindly explores every possibility, and as more and more structures of viral capsids have been studied, numerous exceptions to classic quasisymmetry have been found.