Viruses Flashcards
percentage of infectious diseases that are from virus
60 %
viral infections cause or contribute to what percentage of human cancers
20%
are viruses microorganims
no they need host to survive - obligate intracellular
genomic material of virus
DNA or RNA but not BOTH
what viruses have both DNA and RNA
giant virus aka giruses
what is the core of virus
nucleic acid and protein coat
what is a virion and another name for it
completely infectious particle
viable virus
some properties of viruses
diversity is enormous
limited host range (usually only one cell type)
cell tropism
survival dilemma
what does virus having cell tropism mean
they will only infect certain types of cell
typical size of virus
typically 0.2 micrometers
what do you call viruses/virion that do not have an envelope
they are described as being naked
what is the capsid of virions made of and its importance
protein coat
protection
protein shell around nucleic acid is called
nucleocapsid
what do viruses need to make their proteins aggregate into a capsomer
nothing — self assembly
they do not need energy
two main types of capsid symmetry
helical icosahedral (perfectly stable structure)