Micromechanical properties of tobacco mosaic viruses

A tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) subject to local forces can be viewed as an uniform beam with local loads. We used a custom built Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to determine the curvature induced in the TMV by concentrated load or by distributed forces. Local forces were created by the AFM tip. Distributed forces were applied to the virus via the surface tension of receding droplets. The experimental results of both methods can be described when we attribute a Young modulus of 6 +/- 3 GPa to the virus. Our value is about five times larger than published data. We compare our results to the literature and work out possible error sources in our experiment and in published one.