Viruses Flashcards
Virus
An agent that causes disease in plants, animals, and other organisms
Host
The organisms that is being used to house and aid the virus in replication
Transmit
To pass along
Vector
The substance or path used to pass the virus along; Bodily fluids, Contaminated food, contaminated water, zoonotic
Are viruses living or nonliving
Nonliving
What are viruses composed of
Nucleic acid and capsids
Why are viruses nonliving
they don’t grow, maintain homeostasis, metabolize
They cannot reproduce outside of a living host cell
Capsid
Protein shell
Nucleic acid
RNA or DNA, never both
Bacteriophage
viruses that infect bacteria
Size of viruses
Smaller than prokaryotes
Wendell Stanley
Discovered viruses
Edward Jenner
Developed and promoted the first widely understood vaccine
vaccine
Harmless variant or derivative of a pathogen that stimulates the immune system
Lysogenic cycle
Bacteriophage injects it’s DNA into the bacterium - now is called prophage -
prophage is replicated with the bacterial chromosome prior to each time the bacteria divides
A stressor can force the prophage to exit the chromosome, resulting in the bacteria entering the lytic cycle
