BIO1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Rna Virus, Dna Virus, Escherichia Coli

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Viruses
Virus structure
The tiniest viruses are only 20nm in diameter - they are smaller than ribosomes
Viruses are not cells
A virus is called a DNA virus or an RNA virus depending on the kind of nucleic acid that
makes up its genome
Viruses usually contain a single linear or circular molecule of nucleic acid, although some
can consist of multiple
The smallest viruses have only three genes in their genome, while the largest have
several hundred to 2000
The protein shell enclosing the viral genome is called a capsid
The capsid may be rod shaped, polyhedral or more complex in shape
Capsids are built from a large number of protein subunits called capsomeres, but the
number of different kinds of proteins in a capsid is usually small
Some viruses have accessory structures that help them infect their hosts
For instance, a membranous envelope surrounds the capsids of influenza viruses and
many other viruses found in animals
These viral envelopes contain host cell phospholipids and membrane proteins
Many of the complex capsids are found among the viruses that affect bacteria, known as
bacteriophages
The first phages studied included those that infect E.coli
Viruses replicate only in host cells
Viruses only consist of a nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat, and therefore lack
metabolic enzymes and machinery for making proteins, such as ribosomes
Each particular virus can infect cells of only a limited number of host species, called the
host range of the virus
This host specificity results from the evolution of recognition systems by the virus
Viruses usually identify host cells by a “lock and key” fit between viral surface proteins
and receptor molecules on the outside of cells
A viral infection begins when a virus binds to a host cell and the viral genome makes its
way inside
Once the viral genome is inside, the proteins it encodes can commandeer the host,
reprogramming the cell to copy the viral genome and manufacture viral proteins
After the viral nucleic acid molecules and capsomeres are produced they spontaneously
self-assemble into new viruses
The simplest type of viral replicative cycles ends with the exit of hundreds or thousands
of viruses from the infected host cell, a process that often damages or destroys the cell
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