Viral Pathogens: Classification, Biology, Diseases I

Question 1

what is a virus?

Answer 1

infective agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid moleucle in a protein coat
- too small to be seen by light microscopy
- able to multiply only wihtin the living cells of a host
- they are not alive, they are molecular machines that wish to replicate

Question 2

what is bacteria;

Answer 2

• contain nucleic acid- DNA covered in protein
• have a polysaccharide cell wall-a coat of sugar molecules and can replicate outside of the cell
• viruses can be found also within bacteria

Question 3

what is a piron?

Answer 3

they are proteins that dont contain nucleuid acid and they replicate inside of the cell

Question 4

what is a virus also known as?

Answer 4

obligate cellular parasites

Question 5

why are viruses known as obligate cellular parasites?

Answer 5

obligate cellular parasites require a host cell to live and reproduce, they cant reproduce outside their host cell. same way viral proteins are formed and exist

Question 6

what polyproteins are synthesised by HIV reteroviruses which go onto from the required proteins for HIV formation?

Answer 6

• GAG, POL, ENV

Question 7

what does HIV look like?

Answer 7

genome - two copies of RNA
covered by a layer of protein
covered by a layer of membrane

Question 8

what sticks out of the HIV membrane

Answer 8

envelope glycoprotein/sometimes descirbed as spikes

Question 9

aside from the viral genome, what else do you find within HIV? ie what different types of enzymes

Answer 9

• protease
  -integrase
  -reverse transcriptase

Question 10

describe the structure of HIV practical briefly

Answer 10

-outershell- lipid bilayer protruding with env spikes
-inside enevelope we have shells of gag proteins
- core contains two genomic RNA+ strands, tRNA lyse3 and 50 copies of each PR, RT AND IN

Question 11

the mature partical of HIV contains;

Answer 11

the viral genome