There are two geometrically distinct mechanisms by which chiral structure frustrates the two-dimensional assembly of filaments. In the first mechanism, forces between chiral molecules favor a preferred relative twist of the orientation of neighboring molecules. In the second mechanism, we consider the assembly of filaments whose preferred state is one of helical structure so that the complexation of helical filaments induces a natural writhe to backbone of a growing bundle. Despite the obvious distinctions between these broad categories chiral filament structure, they share the common and surprising property that intermolecular adhesion necessarily introduces some measure of mechanical distortion from the ideal, stress free configurations of isolated, unbound molecules.
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