Viruses Flashcards
What is a virus
What are the differences between life and virus’s
What is a virion particle
What is a viral genome *
A virion is the complete, infectious form of a virus outside a host cell. It serves as the vehicle for delivering the viral genome to new host cells
Viral Genome:
The genetic material (DNA or RNA) that carries the virus’s genetic instructions for replication
What is the virion factory *
is a specialized region within an infected host cell where viral replication and assembly are concentrated
What different genome characteristics can viruses have
What are the differences between DNA and RNA virus genomes
What is a characteristic of viruses with small genomes
Are rna viruses Double or single-stranded
Are dna viruses Double or single-stranded
Give an example of a virus with a circular genome and why doesn’t it cause tumours in humans but does in humans
What is meant by negative and positive sense viruses
What is meant by segmented and non segmented viral genomes *
A segmented genome consists of multiple separate pieces of genetic material, each encoding different parts of the virus’s genetic information
A non-segmented genome is a single continuous strand of genetic material (DNA or RNA).
Give an example of a virus with a segmented genome
How does influenza evolve
What is meant by assortment *
The viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase lacks proofreading ability, leading to frequent errors during replication - mutations
Influenza A viruses have a segmented genome (8 RNA segments).
If two different strains co-infect a cell, their gene segments can mix during viral assembly - reassortment
How are viruses visualised
What is the structure of a simple virus
What shaped virus capsids can you have
What are the characteristic of enveloped viruses
Give two examples of enveloped viruses
Bunyviridae
Filoviridae
What does it mean when a virus is host specific
What different scenarios can occur for viruses that can have more than one host (arent host specific)
What is meant by zoonotic viruses
How can you predict future zoonotic infections
How are viruses named /labelled
what is meant by a virus reservoir*
A virus reservoir is any population, organism, or environment where a virus naturally exists, replicates, and persists over time
What is the characteristic of most non human viruses
What viruses are thought to be alive
What are the characteristics of the mimivirus
Give an overview of the general virus life cycle
What are the stages of viral replication and when can virion particles be observed
What is the first step of virus life cycles
Give some examples of viruses and the receptor on the cell they bind to
Rabies - acetylcholine receptor - neurons
Simbis- laminin receptor - skeletal muscle cells
Give an example of a retrovirus
What is meant by cellular tropism for virus’s*
Cellular tropism refers to the preference or specificity of a virus for infecting particular cell types. This specificity is determined by the interaction between the virus and the host cell, influenced by the presence of suitable receptors and other factors required for viral entry, replication, and assembly.
What different mechanisms can viruses use to infect a host cell
How does HIV infect cells
How does influenza infect a cell
How does polio infect a cell