- Viruses are nonliving particles: They are not cells and
do not exhibit all the criteria for life. - Very small: ½ to 1/100 the size of the smallest bacterium can only been seen with an electron microscope - All viruses can do is replicate and they can’t do that without the help of a host cell. - Naming Viruses o After the disease they cause (ex: Rabies virus) o For the organ or tissue they infect o Today, they are given a genus name enduing in the word “virus” and a species name. Code numbers are used to distinguish among similar viruses that infect the same host. - Viral Structure o Inner core of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) and an outer coat of protein called a capsid. o Some viruses have an envelope surrounding their capsid. They are composed of the same materials of a cell’s plasma membrane. o Four Different Viral Shapes: Polyhedral Viruses (ex: Papilloma viruses that causes worts) Helical Shape (ex: Tobacco Mosaic Virus) An envelope studded with projections (ex: AIDS) Bacteriophage- virus that infects a bacterium; polyhedral-shaped head attached to a cylindrical tail with leglike fibers (ex: T4 virus that infects E. coli) - Attachment- A virus attached to a host cell when one of its proteins interlocks with a receptor site on the host cell’s plasma membrane. o Viruses are species specific and some are also cell- type specific (ex: polio infects only human intestinal and nerve cells) o Significant for controlling the spread of viral diseases - Viral Replication Cycles o Once a virus has attached to the host cell, it has 2 ways of getting in: The virus can inject its nucleic acid into the host cell like a syringe Enveloped virus: The plasma membrane of the host cell surrounds the virus and produces a virus-filled vacuole inside the host cell’s cytoplasm. The vacuole then burst and releases its nucleic acid into the cell. o Lytic Cycle: A virus uses the host cell’s energy and raw materials to make new viruses. Takes about 30 minutes and produces 200 new viruses Host cell then bursts, killing it, and the new viruses can then inject and kill other host cells o Lysogenic Cycle: Virus’s nucleic acid is integrated into the host cell’s chromosomes Viral DNA that is integrated into the chromosome is called a provirus. • May not affect the functioning of its host cell, but everytime the host cell reproduces, the provirus is replicated along with the host cell’s chromosome. • At any time, the provirus can be activated and enter a lytic cycle. Scientists do not know what causes them to become activate- could be physical or emotional stress - Retroviruses o Viruses that contain RNA as their nucleic acid o Once inside a host cell, the retrovirus makes DNA from its RNA o Use reverse transcriptase (enzyme) to do this- located inside capsid o The double-stranded DNA is then inserted into the host cell’s chromosome and becomes a provirus o Example: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) Infects white blood cells, which are used in fighting off infections and disease AIDS patients usually die of infections that a healthy person would normally resist Transmitting in body fluids - Some viruses can cause cancer - Plant Viruses o First plant virus to be identified was the tobacco mosaic virus o 400 viruses that infect plants, causing as many as 1000 diseases o Can be beneficial- cause striking patterns of color in the flowers of plants (tulips, gladioli, and pansies) - Prions: Particles composed of proteins and have no nucleic acids (still infectious) o Influence how proteins fold into their active shape o Example: Mad cow disease (destroys brain) - Viroid: single strand of RNA that has no capsid o Infectious disease agents in plants (affects cucumbers, potatoes, oranges) Important Viral Diseases How the disease Disease Symptoms is transmitted Blisters, rash, muscle soreness, Chickenpox Inhalation fever Fever, chills, fatigue, sore throat, Influenza Inhalation muscle aches, weakness, headache Rash, swollen glands, fever, fatal to Rubella developing infant in pregnant Inhalation woman Mumps Painful swelling in salivary glands Inhalation Blisters, lesions, fever, malaise, Smallpox blindness, disfiguring scars; often Inhalation fatal Fever, chills, nausea, swollen liver, Contaminated blood, Hepatitis A and B yellow skin, painful joints, liver food, or water cancer Fever, headache, stiff neck, Contaminated food Polio possible paralysis or water Sexual contact, contaminated blood, AIDS Immune system failure; fatal or contaminated needles Sinus congestion, muscle aches, Inhalation, direct Cold cough, fever contact Mental depression, fever, Bite of infected Rabies restlessness, difficulty swallowing, animal paralysis, convulsions; fatal