Chapter 5: Viruses Flashcards
Seawater can contain ______ viruses per mL
100 million viruses per mL
Louis Pasteur
Postulated that a “living thing” smaller than bacteria was causing certain diseases; also proposed term “virus” (latin for poison)
Living characteristics of viruses (2)
- They reproduce at a fantastic rate, but only in living host cells;
- They can mutate
Non-living characteristics of viruses (2)
- They are acellular,
- that is, they contain no cytoplasm or cellular organelles;
- They carry out no metabolism on their own and must replicate using the host cell’s metabolic machinery.
Parvoviruses
smallest viruses; 20 nm in diameter
Mimiviruses
largest viruses; 450 nm in length
Virus particles contain __________ DNA or RNA
either; not both
Viral Components (3)
- Nucelic Acid
- Capsid
- Envelope
Capside
protein shell that surrounds the nucleic acid
Nucleocapsid
the capsid together with the nucleic acid; naked viruses consist only of this
Envelope
external covering of a nucleocapsid; usually a modified piece of the host’s cell membrane
Spikes
allow viruses to dock with host cell; can be found on BOTH naked and enveloped viruses
Virion
a fully formed virus able to establish an infection in the host cell
Capsomeres/Protomers
identical protein subunits that make up the capsid
Enveloped Virus
a virion with an envelope (most viruses that infect animals are enveloped)
Naked Virus
a virion without an envelope
How do envelopes form?
When viral glycoproteins and oligosaccharides associate with the cell membrane of the host cell
All envelopes have a _________
Phospholipid bilayer
Genome packaging plays an important role in ________
the infection
3 ways genomes are packaged:
- Directly in the capsid-inner side of the protein coat;
- Enclosed in special proteins-nucleic acid binding protein;
- Enclosed in proteins from the host cell
Variola Virus
small pox; double-stranded DNA
Herpes Simplex II
Herpes; double-stranded DNA
Parvovirus
Erythema Infectiosum; single-stranded DNA
Poliovirus
- Poliomyelitis;
- Single-stranded RNA;
- (+) polarity