Structure & Chemical Composition of Viruses Flashcards
What is the smallest virus?
Porcine circovirus type 1
What is the largest virus?
Poxvirus
What shape is the ebola virus?
Filament-shaped
What shape is the rabies virus?
Bullet-shaped
What shape is the bacteriophage?
Tadpole-shaped
What shape is the tobacco mosaic virus?
Rod-shaped
What shape is the poxvirus?
Brick-shaped
What shape is the rotavirus?
Spherical
What is pleomorphism?
Ability of some viruses to alter their shape or size?
What are 4 common methods to determine the morphology of viruses?
- Electron microscopy (EM)
- Cyro-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM)
- X-ray crystallographic method
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
What are 4 important characteristics of virus morphology?
- DNA or RNA genes
- Capsid
- Envelope, a bubble of fat
- Molecules of protein
What is a capsid?
Protein shell of a virus that encases/envelopes viral nucleic acid or genome
Basic subunit protein in virus capsid
What is a capsid made of?
Capsomeres
Most viruses have one capsid, except?
Reoviruses
What makes up a nucleocapsid?
Capsid + Virus Nucleic acid/Genome
In all animal viruses, the helical nucleocapsid is enclosed with what kind of envelope?
Lipoprotein envelope
What kind of nucleocapsid does a plant virus have?
Naked helical nucleocapsid
What two types of capsomeres are present in a icosahedral capsid?
- Pentagonal capsomeres (pentons)/(always 12 pentons
2. Hexagonal capsomeres (hexons)
What is the triangulation number (T-number)
T = h2 + h * k + k2
Relationship between penton (constant) and Hexon (variable)
What are two types of icosahedrals?
- Naked
2. Enveloped
What is the simplest icosahedron? (T=1)
Parvovirus (capsid consists of 60 copies of CP protein)