Lesson 3.3 - Viruses Flashcards
(53 cards)
Characteristics of Viruses
- nm (10-9) to um (10-6)
- obligate intracellular molecular parasites
- acellular, infectious, diverse
- DNA or RNA
- lacks ribosomes & metabolic pathways
- mutations; responds to natural selection
Viral sizes
idkkkk

Viral genomes
- Most are small (5-500 kb)
- May consist 1+ chromosomes
- Circular or linear
- DNA or RNA (some have tRNA)
- ss or ds

Viral Mutation Rate
- abt. 1 in 10k nts
- Humans are abt 1 in 1 billion
- No repair system
- Frequent reassortment
Viruses in Nature
- Earth’s most abundant biological particles
- Found in concentrations 10X higher than prokaryotes
- Don’t always harm host
- i.e. anelloviruses in blood
- Nasal secretions, saliva, bile, feces, tears, semen, breastmilk, urine
- Some benefit host
- Transduction (bacteriophage)
- Human genome full of dysfunctional retroviruses
Dimitri Ivanowsky (1892)
- Botanist
- Causal agent could pass through ceramic filter
- Flitrate contained poison venom
Martinus Beijerinck (1898)
- Microbiologist; repeated Ivanowsky experiments
- Virus inactivated by boiling contagious living fluid
- Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)
- Yellow Fever (1902)
- Rous Sarcoma Virus (1911)
- Bacteriophages (1915)
- Fertilized chicken eggs (1931)
- Mosquito vector
- Oncogenesis
- -
- Animal virus cultivation
Crystallization of TMV discovered by [who]
- Stanley (1935)
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1946)
- Proof that viruses were not cells; made of protein & nucelic acid (DNA or RNA); require a host cell for replication
- Electron microscope images n/a until 1947
Virus Methods of Infection
-
Mucous membranes
- Rub eyes, inhale droplets
-
GI tract
- Contaminated food/water, fingers in mouth (ooo)
-
Trauma
- Animal bite, contaminated needles, mech. injury
-
Genitourinary tract
- Sexual transmission
- Plant viruses/seed borne, arthropod vector
How do viruses make us sick?
-
Homeostasis disrupted; host cells manipulated to produce viruses
- Cell lysis, changes in size/shape, nuclear inclusion bodies, cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, mutations, transform to cancer cells, multinucleated cells
Zoonosis
- Animal origin / host / reservoir
- Naturally transmissible (vertebrae animals to humans)
- Some b humanized & unaffect animals
- measles, HIV, Sars-CoV-2
- Some b humanized & unaffect animals
Ebola by [what animals]
bats
Rabies by [what animals]
mammals
Influenza by [what animals]
birds and pigs
SARS by [what animals]
civets
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) by [what animals]
dromedary camels
Sars-CoV-2 by [what animals]
bats; suspected pangolins
What does it mean when viruses are polythetic?
In a group that cannot be defined on basis of any single shared character, but on overlapping combinations of characters
Type of nucleic acids [Viruses]
- DNA, RNA (some have tRNA), ss, ds
- Linear, circular
- (+) strand vs. (-) strand
- no universal gene
Shape [Viruses]
- Capsid structure; presence/absence
- Presnce of additional structures
What are some organisms that viruses parasitize?
Bacteria (bacteriophages), Archaea (archaeaphages), insects, mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, plants, amoeba, fungi (mycoviruses), crustaceans
Viruses can be classified by taxonomic terms, especially families such as the ____________ suffix
- viridae
- Governed by International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)
What is the host for Mimivirus?
Acanthamoeba polyphaga
Originally thought to be Gram (+)





















