Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is the viral genetic code in viruses and when was it discovered?
The nucleic acid genome and it was found in the 1950s
What is the Hershey-Chase experiment?
They wanted to know what was the viral genetic code
-1st the viral protein was radio labeled and the virus infected the cell
radioactivity was mostly found in the supernatant fraction aka above the solid and no radioactivity was foiund in next gen of phages
-2nd the viral dna was radio labeles
radioactivity was mostly found in cell pellet and radioactivity was detected in next gen of phages
when did baltimore win his nobel and what did he dop
he won it in 1975
he made up the baltimore classification system and found reverse transcriptase
what is the universal feature of viral genomes?
their need to make proteins to undergo viral life cycle
how many types of viral genomes are there
7
why is there only 6 classes at first in the baltimore classification system?
because the 7th appeared when hep B was found
mRNA that is ribosome ready is always the positive or negative strand
positive
true or false: all + rna is mRNA
false some might not be ribosomal ready aka they are not all translated
the elegance of the Baltimore System
Knowing only the nature of the viral genome, one can deduce the basic steps that must take place to produce mRNA
What information is encoded in a viral genome?
gene products and regulatory signals for:
-Replication of the viral genome
-assembly and packaging pf the genome
-regulation and timing of the replication cycle
-modulation of host defenses
-spread to other cells and hosts
What information is not contained in viral genomes?
-no genes encoding the complete synthesis machinery aka no ribosomes
-no genes encoding proteins involved in energy production or membrane biosynthesis
-No classical centromeres (genome segregation) or telomeres (genome maintenance)
true or false we don’t really know what the genes in most of the giant viruses do
true
Largest known viral genomes
-Pandoravirus salinus (largest)
-Pandoravirus dulcis
-Megavirus chilensis
-Mamavirus
-Mimivirus
smallest known viral genomes
-Circovirus (smallest)
-Anellovirus
-Geminivirus
-Hep B
-Levivirus
what are the 7 classes of the baltimore classification
I: dsDNA viruses
II: ssDNA viruses (+)sense DNA
III: dsRNA viruses
IV: (+)ssRNA viruses (+)sense RNA
V: -ssrna viruses
VI: ssRNA-RT viruses (+)sense RNA with DNA intermediate in life-cycle
VII: dsDNA-RT viruses
dsDNA Genomes
-The host genetic system is based on DNA
-Many DNA viruses emulate the host
-However, almost all viral DNA genomes are NOT like cell chromosomes
-Unexpected tricks have evolved
-Genomes copied by host DNA polymerases
e.g. Polyomaviridae, Pappilomaviridae
-Genomes encode DNA polymerase
e.g. Adenoviridae, Poxviridae
ssDNA Genomes
-Can be circular or linear
e.g. Circoviridae (circular), Parvoviridae (linear)
-Must be converted to dsDNA to make mRNA
true or false: ssDNA viruses often infect humans
false: because we don’t have ssDNA in our DNA it looks foreign to our cells and we have a good system to kill them
ex: TT’virus’(ubiquitous human virus)
B19’parvovirus’(fifth disease)