Viruses Flashcards
What’s a virus?
obligate cellular parasites
• smaller than a bacterium
– broadly distributed and the most effective replicators on earth;
– affect all forms of life – including other viruses!
• able to function only within the living cells of a host animal, plant, or microorganism,
• consists of a nucleic acid molecule (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat, often with an outer lipid membrane.
Have only been known about for ~100yrs (original definition was simply if it passed through a filter – defo no longer valid!!)
Methods of studying viruses
- Pathology and transmission studies
- Electron microscopy
- Culture
- Detection of virions and immune responses
- X-ray crystallography
- Nucleic acid detection, sequencing, and analysis
The evolution and taxonomy of viruses remain dynamic sciences,
revolutionised by high-throughput nucleotide sequencing
diff bits of virus structure
capsid head w nucleic acid collar sheath baseplate spikes tail fiber
name 4 properties viruses can differ in
STRUCTURE
GENOME COMPOSITION
Nucleic acid
- DNA, RNA, both at diff stages in life cycle
Genome shape
- linear, circular, segmented
Strandedness
- Single-stranded, Double-stranded, DS with regions of SS
Sense
- + sense, - sense, ambisense (+/-)
GENOME MUTATION RATE (RNA has higher mut rate than DNA)
LIFECYCLES
what’s the baltimore system of classification and why is it needed?
o Groups viruses into families depending on type of genome and method of replication
o This system is needed as there is no presumed common ancestor for viruses
Group 1: dsDNA
Group 2: ssDNA (+)
Group 3: dsRNA
Group 4: ssRNA (+)
Group 5: ssRNA (-)
Group 6: ssRNA-RT (+) RNA with intermediate DNA in life-cycle
Group 7: dsDNA-RT DNA with RNA intermediate in life cycle
Group 6&7 are retroviruses, uses its own reverse transcriptase to convert its own RNA to DNA, which it then incorporates into the host genome
difference between RNA and DNA
The properties of DNA mean it’s more stable for our genomes
DNA
- Deoxyribose less reactive due to C-H bonds
- Stable in alkaline conditions
- Smaller grooves, more resistant to enzymatic attack
- Mostly double stranded
- > Lower mutation rate
RNA
- Ribose more reactive due to C-OH
- Not stable in alkaline conditions
- Larger grooves, more sensitive to enzymatic attack
- Mostly single stranded
- > Higher mutation rate
As mutation rate increases, genome size …..
- what does this mean for the high mutation rate of RNA?
- In general, as mutation rate increases, genome size decreases
- High mutation rate of RNA means it’s much harder to track viral phylogeny
- Higher eukaryotes (us!!) have v low mutation rates and big! genomes!
Is viral genome size related to host that they infect?
• Huge range in genome size and type of viruses, regardless of the host that they infect
eg. Similar range for invertebrates and protists – for no reason whatsoever!
Some viral genomes are segmented
- why?
- what does it enable?
- example of why it’s important
• For RNA viruses, each segment often codes for only one protein, usually found together on one capsid
WHY?
• RNA viruses often segmented because they need to have genomes in smaller bits so that an error in a single component won’t affect the whole genome (due to high error-rate when replicating)
Eg. Influenza A virus
WHAT DOES IT ENABLE?
• Enables re-assortment and recombination of their genomes – can have important consequences for viral evolution and immune escape by creating progeny with unique characteristics by shuffling genes
Eg. RNA exchange between mammalian and avian influenza viruses gave rise to influenza pandemic
What does lysogeny mean?
One of two cycles of viral reproduction
- Lysogeny is characterized by integration of the bacteriophage nucleic acid into the host genome
- In this condition the bacterium continues to live and reproduce normally.
Latency and lysogeny (only applies to phages!!)
o rather than lysing the infected host cells immediately, phages can insert their DNA into host bacterial DNA
o bacteria divide many times, phage is latent within!!
o This enables long-term survival and introduces complex interactions of host and phage genomes
o phage induction happens, controlled by a genetic switch, where host DNA is destroyed and cell is lysed (baso standard lytic cycle)
o means lots more phages may be produced in the long term
Pseudolysogeny
- what?
Pseudolysogeny normally occurs under nutrient-deprivation, when bacterial host can’t support replication of its own DNA, the virus can’t replicate either until favourable nutrient-rich conditions ensue
Eukaryotic virus life cycle
Attachment
– specific binding between viral capsid proteins and receptors on host cell surface. This specificity determines the range of hosts that a virus can infect
Penetration
– virions enter host cell through endocytosis/membrane fusion
Uncoating
– viral capsid removed (degradation by viral/ host enzymes, releasing viral genomic nucleic acid
Replication of viruses
– synthesis of viral mRNA, assembly of viral proteins
Assembly
– self assembly of virus particles
Release
– cell bursts (lysis) or budding
Viral strategies to enter the cell
- barriers
- how to get over them
- The cell imposes intrinsic barriers to virus entry eg. Plasma membrane, actin cortex
- Viruses have evolved various strategies to overcome these barriers
Receptor-mediated endocytosis
o Eg. Bacteriophages have long tails used to attach to receptors on bacterial surface
o Eg. HIV can only infect a limited range of human leucocytes as the viral surface protein gp120 specifically interacts with the CD4 molecule found on the surface of CD4+ T cells
pH dependent fusion
o Acidic conditions of the endosome can induce fusion, releasing virus from vesicle into cytosol
Which 3 classes of virus all use +RNA strands as intermediates, as the templates for both translation and genome replication
dsRNA, ssRNA (+), retroviruses ssRNA-RT (+) &: dsDNA-RT
•dsRNA
+mRNA is synthesised (so there are 3 strands total), translated to form protein (which forms new virion cores). The cores mature, synthesising -RNA and adding exterior proteins. Result is spanking new virion!
•ssRNA (+)
can be directly translated by host ribosomes to form virion proteins. Small amounts of -RNA are produced and used as templates to greatly amplify viral +RNA, which is encapsidated into new virions.
•Retroviruses
use reverse transcriptase to convert RNA into cDNA, which are spliced into the host genome before they are transcribed to make +RNA, that is then translated into virion proteins using host polymerases
Using a diagram, describe the life cycle of a positive sense RNA virus
can be directly translated by host ribosomes to form virion proteins.
Small amounts of -RNA are produced and used as templates to greatly amplify viral +RNA, which is encapsidated into new virions.
difference between positive and negative sense RNA
Negative-sense RNA
- nucleotide sequence complementary to the mRNA that it encodes.
- cannot be translated into protein directly
- Instead, it must first be transcribed into a positive-sense RNA that acts as an mRNA
Positive-sense RNA
- can act as mRNA and be directly translated into protein!
Impacts of viruses on evolution
Large proportion of animal genomes are of viral origin
What are viral factories?
- Intracellular compartments which increase the efficiency of viral replication assembly and shield it from host defences.
- Can be cytoplasmic or nuclear
Spherules
– membrane invagination, can appear on many cellular compartments eg. Mitochondria or chloroplasts
Viroplasm – cytoplasmic inclusions
Double membrane vesicles – derived from ER or golgi
Nuclear viral factories – eg. Replication compartments
