Biology 1001A Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Rna Virus, Dna Virus, Cell Membrane
Document Summary
Viruses are not considered to be living organisms: lack many of the properties shared by all living organisms, cannot reproduce on their own and lack a metabolic system. Instead they rely on host cells that they infect for these functions. Viruses are not cells: there are many types of viruses and contain different kinds of genomes, can have dna or rna as genetic information, can be double or single stranded. A virus is one or more nucleic acid molecules surrounded by a protein coat (capsid protein) Inside of protein shell contains nucleic acid (dna, rna) Helical viruses" protein subunits assemble into a rod like structure and generally infect plants. Polyhedral viruses" coat proteins generally form triangular units that fit together like a soccer ball: generally infect plants, animals, and bacteria. Viruses are classified into orders, families, genera, and species using criteria such as virus size and structure.
