300802 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Chitin, Commensalism, Envelope Glycoprotein Gp120
Document Summary
Basic information: not considered a living organism, cannot reproduce on their own they require a host cell, composed of rna or dna, genetic material and a protein capsid. May have an envelope: viriod only rna nucleic acid, no capsid, capsid protein coat surrounds viral genome, two main shapes (helical and icosahedral, viral envelope lipids and membrane proteins (derived from host membranes). Membrane proteins will be specific for virus, coded for by viral rna or dna and will hold an antigen for the immune system of the host. Different types: shape, helical e. g. plant virus. Icosahedral e. g. animal virus adenovirus: spherical e. g. influenza, binal/complex e. g. bacterial virus, host, bacterial virus = bacteriophage, genome, rna or dna, single stranded or double stranded, linear or circular, retrovirus, polymorphic e. g. animal virus. Human viruses: structure dna, rna, double stranded, single stranded, +ve, -ve, human immunodeficiency virus, hiv causes immune deficiency syndrome (aids, aids first reported in 1081.
