BIOL 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 19: Tobacco Mosaic Virus, Wendell Meredith Stanley, Capsomere
23 Dec 2019
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Concept 19. 1: a virus consists of a nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat. Viruses were detected indirectly long before they were actually seen. The origins of molecular biology lie in early studies of viruses that infect bacteria. Viruses called bacteriophages can infect and set in motion a genetic takeover of bacteria, such as escherichia coli. Tobacco mosaic disease stunts growth of tobacco plants and gives their leaves a mosaic coloration. In the late 1800s, researchers hypothesized that a particle smaller than bacteria caused the disease. In 1935, wendell stanley confirmed this hypothesis by crystallizing the infectious particle, now known as tobacco mosaic virus (tmv) A virus is a very small infectious particle consisting of nucleic acid. Enclosed in a protein coat, the capsid, which is composed of capsomere protein components. Some virus are also enclosed in a membranous envelope. Viral genomes may consist of either: double- or single-stranded dna, or, double- or single-stranded rna.
