Lecture 1 and 2 - Introduction Flashcards
What does virus mean in latin?
Slimy liquid or poison
What is a virus?
Virus: submicroscopic filterable (< 0.2 µ) infectious agent multiply only in living cells
What kind of parasites are viruses?
Viruses are obligate parasites that are metabolically inert when they are outside their hosts.
What does a virus rely on?
Viruses rely, to varying extents, on the metabolic processes of their hosts to reproduce themselves.
Do viruses have cellular organelles?
Viruses: Do not have cellular organelles (mitochondria, chloroplasts, Golgi, and endoplasmic reticulum or ribosomes.
What do viruses have in terms of biology?
Viruses: have nucleic acids in the form of DNA or RNA, never both except Retroviruses
What is a virion?
Virions are the mature extracellular infectious viral particle produced by the infected cells under the control of the genetic materials of the virus.
What is a viroid?
Viroid: an infectious entity affecting plants, smaller than a virus and consisting only of nucleic acid without a protein coat.
What is a satellite or defective virus?
Satellite or Defective Viruses: Viruses require a second virus (helper virus) for replication
Ex: Hepatitis delta virus requires the presence of HBV to complete its replication cycle.
What is the living criteria of viruses?
- Control and divert cellular function for their own purposes.
- Can multiply: viral genome, genetic code, new viral components are synthesized and assembled within the infected host cell.
- Viruses may undergo mutation.
What is the nonliving criteria of viruses?
Viruses are not able to reproduce on their own
• Viruses must infect other cells in order to perpetuate their life cycle
• Viruses can be crystallized but no other cells can be crystallized
• Viruses do not have energy generating (ATP) machinery
• Viruses do not have metabolic machinery
• Viruses do not have the necessary machinery for generating nucleic acid or protein
• Viruses do not contain cytoplasm or any cellular organelles
• Viruses may contain membranous envelope derived from the infected host cells during viral exit
What are the reasons for the non life viral theory?
Viruses are considered to be non-living because:
- Are not cells
- Do not grow or respond to their surroundings
- Can not make food, take in food, or produce wastes
- They do not respond to stimuli
What are the reasons for the life viral theory?
have only two fundamental characteristics of the living system
- the presence of nucleic acid as genetic material
- the ability to replicate and produce their own copies.
What is the conclusion found between the living and nonliving viral theories?
Viruses can only multiply in another cell. • Conclusion: viruses are nonliving outside the cells but live inside the cell
What are some characteristics of viruses that they do not share with other microorganisms?
Viruses do not:
- isolate/ propagate on synthetic media
- reproduce with binary fission
- contain both DNA and RNA
- have presence of energy machinery
- have metabolism
- have a size > 300 nm
- cannot be detected by light microscope ( Most viruses can only be seen under EM except in cases of giant viruses as Mimivirus can be seen by light microscope)
- have a cell wall.
Viruses do have IFNs sensitivity.
What determines the mutation rate of viruses?
Mutation rates are primarily determined by the type of viral nucleic acids
• RNA polymerase fidelity and transcriptional proofreading (DNA/RNA) polymerases
What is the criteria of classification of viral order ?
Group of virus families sharing certain common characters
What is criteria of classification of viral family?
A group of genera sharing certain common characters with each others
What is criteria of classification of viral sub-family?
- A group of genera sharing certain common characters
- Used only when it is needed to solve a complex hierarchical problem
What is criteria of classification of a viral genus?
A group of related species that share some significant properties Usually only differ in host range and virulence
What is criteria of classification of a viral species?
Consist of as few words must not consist only of a host name
What are the physical properties used as criteria in viral classification?
Physical properties of viruses
- Type of viral NA
- The strandedness of the NA (ss or ds)
- Viral size
- Symmetry of viruses
- Total number of Capsomeres per virus
- Presence or absence of the viral envelope
What are the chemical properties used as criteria in viral classification?
II. Chemical properties of the viruses
- Heat sensitivity
- pH sensitivity
What are the biological properties used as criteria in viral classification?
III. Biological properties of viruses
- Cytopathology (CP)
- Site of replication (IC or IN)
- Inclusion bodies
- Hemagglutination property
- Antigenic properties
Parts of a virus: What is the inner core? What is inside this region?
Inner core: (Nucleic acids, NA) -Always occupy the central region of the virus
- Usually coiled to packed into a small space
- May be double-stranded (ds) or single-stranded (ss)
What are the double stranded viruses? single stranded?
- ds: most of the DNA viruses; exception; Parvovirdae and Circovirdae (ss)
- ss: most RNA viruses; exception; Reoviridae and Birnavirdae (ds)
- Sometimes segmented: Influenza viruses, Reovirues, and Birnaviruses