Final: Ch 5: Viruses Flashcards
Viruses
infect EVERY type of cell
seawater can contain 100 million viruses per mL
latin for “poison”
Scientists involved in discovery of viruses
Pasteur - postulated that a living thing smaller than bacteria caused diseases
Ivanovski and Beijerinck - showed that a disease in tobacco was caused by a virus
Loeffler and Frosch - discovered an animal virus causes foot-and-mouth disease in cattle
Filterable virus
early researchers found that when fluids from host organisms passed thru porcelain filters designed to trap bacteria, the filtrate remained infections
result
proved that a cell-free fluid could contain agents that could cause infection
General characteristics of viruses
“active” or “inactive”
obligatory intracellular parasites: require living host cells in order to multiply
not cells: no cell wall, cytoplasm or organelles
very small - submicroscopic (visible only w/electron microscope)
Role of viruses in evolution
infect cells and influence their genetic makeup
shape the way cells, tissues, bacteria, plants and animals have evolved
10% of the human genome consists of sequences that come from viruses
10-20% of bacterial DNA contains viral sequences
Distinctive features of viruses
bear no resemblance to cells
lack any of the protein synthesizing machinery found in cells
structure is composed of regular, repeating subunits that give rise to their crystalline appearance
contain only the parts needed to invade and control a host cell: external coating, core containing one or more nucleic acid strains of RNA or RNA, sometimes 1-2 enzymes
Virus particle: Central core
Nucleic acid core - DNA or RNA, single or double stranded
Matrix proteins
Enzymes (not found in all)
Virus particle: covering
protect nucleic acid from host’s acid and protein digesting enzymes
assist in binding and penetrating host cell
stimulate the host’s immune system
Capsid - protein coat
Envelope (not found in all) - the virus steals some of the host plasma membrane when it leaves the cell
Spikes (some) - some have carbo-protein complexes projecting from the surface
General morphology
Helical
Icosahedral
Complex
enveloped or not
Helical capsid
Naked helical:
nucleocapsid is rigid and tightly wound into a cylinder-shaped package
Enveloped helical:
nucleocapsid is more flexible
Icosahedral capsid
3D, 20 sided w/12 evenly spaced corners
variation in capsomer #
can be naked or enveloped
Complex viruses
structure more complex than helical or icosahedral Pox virus: several layers of lipoproteins causes smallpox, cowpox, chicken pox Bacteriophage: virus that attacks bacteria polyhedral head w/tail fibers looks like space craft
Viral nucleic acid
contain either DNA or RNA nucleic acid can be in different forms: -single stranded (ss) DNA -double stranded (ds) DNA -ssRNA -dsRNA possess only the genes to invade and regulate the metabolic activity of the host cells no viral metabolic genes b/c the virus uses the hosts metabolic resources
Enzymes in the virus particle
enzymes for specific operations within their host cell
- polymerase that synthesize DNA and RNA
- replicases that copy RNA
- reverse transcriptase synthesizes DNA from RNA
- retroviruses carry their own enzymes to create DNA out of RNA
Classifying viruses
look at commonalities in:
- genetic makeup (DNA, RNA, genetic sequence)
- structure (naked, enveloped, helical, icosahedral)
- chemical composition
- host relationship
- type of disease
3 orders
73 families
283 genera
Viral multiplication cycle (viral life cycle)
depends on the type of virus and species infected
animal viruses
retroviruses
bacteriophages
Viral multiplication cycle: Animal Viruses
- adsorption/attachment
- penetration
- uncoating
- synthesis
- assembly
- release
if you can stop just one step, you can stop the multiplication of viruses
- Adsorption/attachment
viral particles (virion) attaches to specific receptor on outside of host cell
surface viral particles bind to specific membrane proteins on the host cell membrane
this is how rhinovirus identifies and targets the nose while HIV binds to immune cells
- Penetration
virion penetrates the host cell thru the cell membrane and/or cell wall to enter cytoplasm
occurs by endocytosis or fusion btwn the viral envelope and the host cell membrane
- Uncoating
removal of the capsid and envelope, if present, exposes the nucleic acid of the virus
- Synthesis
production of the virion parts (nucleic acid, capsid, spikes)
synthesis of the viral nucleic acid and proteins occurs
- Assembly
parts made in step 4 are put together like a toy at christmas to make a new virus
assembly of the viral proteins and nucleic acid into its capsid and envelope, if present
making a new virus
- Release
virion exits the cell by lysing the cell or exocytosis and may steal some of the host membrane for its envelope
the mature virus leaves the cell
at this point, it can obtain an envelope by budding off the host cell membrane
Cytopathic effects (CPEs) of animal viruses
damage that occurs to the host cell due to a viral infection
can include:
-inclusion bodies: compacted masses of viruses
-syncytia: many cells fused into a large clump cell
-chronic latent stage: virus lays in wait until its reactivated
-transformation: cancer; increased rate of growth, alterations in DNA, continuous cell division, loss of contact inhibition