Scanning microscopy study of the assembly and structure of filamentous virus M13 dispersed on graphite

We study the structure and surface binding of the filamentous virus M13 on graphite using AFM and STM in ambient conditions. A simple technique to isolate the virus is developed and the bias-dependent features of tunneling microscopy are studied to provide an estimate of the dielectric properties of a single M13 virus biomolecule. These measurements are used to interpret the topographic images of tunneling microscopy.