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89-440: Nanoviridae is a family of viruses . Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently 12 species in this family, divided among 2 genera and one unassigned species. Diseases associated with this family include: stunting. The recognized genera are: The unassigned species is Coconut foliar decay virus . Viruses in the family Nanoviridae are non-enveloped, with icosahedral and round geometries, and T=1 symmetry. The diameter

178-476: A Nobel Prize -winning biologist, devised a system called the Baltimore Classification System to classify different viruses based on their unique replication strategy. There are seven different replication strategies based on this system (Baltimore Class I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII). The seven classes of viruses are listed here briefly and in generalities. This type of virus usually must enter

267-425: A virion , consists of nucleic acid surrounded by a protective coat of protein called a capsid . These are formed from protein subunits called capsomeres . Viruses can have a lipid "envelope" derived from the host cell membrane . The capsid is made from proteins encoded by the viral genome and its shape serves as the basis for morphological distinction. Virally-coded protein subunits will self-assemble to form

356-606: A basic optical microscope. In 2013, the Pandoravirus genus was discovered in Chile and Australia, and has genomes about twice as large as Megavirus and Mimivirus. All giant viruses have dsDNA genomes and they are classified into several families: Mimiviridae , Pithoviridae, Pandoraviridae , Phycodnaviridae , and the Mollivirus genus. Some viruses that infect Archaea have complex structures unrelated to any other form of virus, with

445-418: A capsid diameter of 400 nm. Protein filaments measuring 100 nm project from the surface. The capsid appears hexagonal under an electron microscope, therefore the capsid is probably icosahedral. In 2011, researchers discovered the largest then known virus in samples of water collected from the ocean floor off the coast of Las Cruces, Chile. Provisionally named Megavirus chilensis , it can be seen with

534-581: A capsid, in general requiring the presence of the virus genome. Complex viruses code for proteins that assist in the construction of their capsid. Proteins associated with nucleic acid are known as nucleoproteins , and the association of viral capsid proteins with viral nucleic acid is called a nucleocapsid. The capsid and entire virus structure can be mechanically (physically) probed through atomic force microscopy . In general, there are five main morphological virus types: The poxviruses are large, complex viruses that have an unusual morphology. The viral genome

623-596: A cell, viruses exist in the form of independent viral particles, or virions , consisting of (i) genetic material , i.e., long molecules of DNA or RNA that encode the structure of the proteins by which the virus acts; (ii) a protein coat, the capsid , which surrounds and protects the genetic material; and in some cases (iii) an outside envelope of lipids . The shapes of these virus particles range from simple helical and icosahedral forms to more complex structures. Most virus species have virions too small to be seen with an optical microscope and are one-hundredth

712-639: A cellular structure, which is often seen as the basic unit of life. Viruses do not have their own metabolism and require a host cell to make new products. They therefore cannot naturally reproduce outside a host cell —although some bacteria such as rickettsia and chlamydia are considered living organisms despite the same limitation. Accepted forms of life use cell division to reproduce, whereas viruses spontaneously assemble within cells. They differ from autonomous growth of crystals as they inherit genetic mutations while being subject to natural selection. Virus self-assembly within host cells has implications for

801-493: A different DNA (or RNA) molecule. This can occur when viruses infect cells simultaneously and studies of viral evolution have shown that recombination has been rampant in the species studied. Recombination is common to both RNA and DNA viruses. Coronaviruses have a single-strand positive-sense RNA genome. Replication of the genome is catalyzed by an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase . The mechanism of recombination used by coronaviruses likely involves template switching by

890-404: A double stranded intermediate that is transcribed unidirectionally. Most individual nanovirus particles only encode for a single protein . DNA-templated transcription is the method of transcription. The virus exits the host cell by nuclear pore export, and tubule-guided viral movement. Plants serve as the natural host. The virus is transmitted via a vector (aphids). Viruses A virus

979-559: A few species, or broad for viruses capable of infecting many. Viral infections in animals provoke an immune response that usually eliminates the infecting virus. Immune responses can also be produced by vaccines , which confer an artificially acquired immunity to the specific viral infection. Some viruses, including those that cause HIV/AIDS , HPV infection , and viral hepatitis , evade these immune responses and result in chronic infections. Several classes of antiviral drugs have been developed. The English word "virus" comes from

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1068-549: A fluid, by Wendell Meredith Stanley , and the invention of the electron microscope in 1931 allowed their complex structures to be visualised. Scientific opinions differ on whether viruses are a form of life or organic structures that interact with living organisms. They have been described as "organisms at the edge of life", since they resemble organisms in that they possess genes , evolve by natural selection , and reproduce by creating multiple copies of themselves through self-assembly. Although they have genes, they do not have

1157-445: A genome size of only two kilobases; the largest—the pandoraviruses —have genome sizes of around two megabases which code for about 2500 proteins. Virus genes rarely have introns and often are arranged in the genome so that they overlap . In general, RNA viruses have smaller genome sizes than DNA viruses because of a higher error-rate when replicating, and have a maximum upper size limit. Beyond this, errors when replicating render

1246-409: A host cell. Viruses can exploit normal cell receptor functions to allow attachment to occur by mimicking molecules that bind to host cell receptors. For example, the rhinovirus uses their virus attachment protein to bind to the receptor ICAM-1 on host cells that is normally used to facilitate adhesion between other host cells. Entry, or penetration, is the second step in viral replication. This step

1335-506: A ladder. The virus particles of some virus families, such as those belonging to the Hepadnaviridae , contain a genome that is partially double-stranded and partially single-stranded. For most viruses with RNA genomes and some with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) genomes, the single strands are said to be either positive-sense (called the 'plus-strand') or negative-sense (called the 'minus-strand'), depending on if they are complementary to

1424-436: A life form, because they carry genetic material, reproduce, and evolve through natural selection , although they lack some key characteristics, such as cell structure, that are generally considered necessary criteria for defining life. Because they possess some but not all such qualities, viruses have been described as "organisms at the edge of life" and as replicators . Viruses spread in many ways. One transmission pathway

1513-472: A limited range of hosts and many are species-specific. Some, such as smallpox virus for example, can infect only one species—in this case humans, and are said to have a narrow host range . Other viruses, such as rabies virus, can infect different species of mammals and are said to have a broad range. The viruses that infect plants are harmless to animals, and most viruses that infect other animals are harmless to humans. The host range of some bacteriophages

1602-408: A prime target for natural selection. Segmented genomes confer evolutionary advantages; different strains of a virus with a segmented genome can shuffle and combine genes and produce progeny viruses (or offspring) that have unique characteristics. This is called reassortment or 'viral sex'. Genetic recombination is a process by which a strand of DNA (or RNA) is broken and then joined to the end of

1691-412: A single viral particle that is released from the cell and is capable of infecting other cells of the same type. Viruses are found wherever there is life and have probably existed since living cells first evolved . The origin of viruses is unclear because they do not form fossils, so molecular techniques are used to infer how they arose. In addition, viral genetic material occasionally integrates into

1780-456: A small part of the total diversity of viruses has been studied. As of 2022, 6 realms, 10 kingdoms, 17 phyla, 2 subphyla, 40 classes, 72 orders, 8 suborders, 264 families, 182 subfamilies , 2,818 genera, 84 subgenera , and 11,273 species of viruses have been defined by the ICTV. The general taxonomic structure of taxon ranges and the suffixes used in taxonomic names are shown hereafter. As of 2022,

1869-605: A wide diversity of sizes and shapes, called ' morphologies '. In general, viruses are much smaller than bacteria and more than a thousand bacteriophage viruses would fit inside an Escherichia coli bacterium's cell. Many viruses that have been studied are spherical and have a diameter between 20 and 300 nanometres . Some filoviruses , which are filaments, have a total length of up to 1400 nm; their diameters are only about 80 nm. Most viruses cannot be seen with an optical microscope , so scanning and transmission electron microscopes are used to visualise them. To increase

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1958-553: A wide variety of unusual shapes, ranging from spindle-shaped structures to viruses that resemble hooked rods, teardrops or even bottles. Other archaeal viruses resemble the tailed bacteriophages, and can have multiple tail structures. An enormous variety of genomic structures can be seen among viral species ; as a group, they contain more structural genomic diversity than plants, animals, archaea, or bacteria. There are millions of different types of viruses, although fewer than 7,000 types have been described in detail. As of January 2021,

2047-416: Is a feature of many bacterial and some animal viruses. Some viruses undergo a lysogenic cycle where the viral genome is incorporated by genetic recombination into a specific place in the host's chromosome. The viral genome is then known as a " provirus " or, in the case of bacteriophages a " prophage ". Whenever the host divides, the viral genome is also replicated. The viral genome is mostly silent within

2136-405: Is a major change in the genome of the virus. This can be a result of recombination or reassortment . The Influenza A virus is highly prone to reassortment; occasionally this has resulted in novel strains which have caused pandemics . RNA viruses often exist as quasispecies or swarms of viruses of the same species but with slightly different genome nucleoside sequences. Such quasispecies are

2225-437: Is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism . Viruses infect all life forms , from animals and plants to microorganisms , including bacteria and archaea . Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky 's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and

2314-654: Is also one of the most-studied types of viruses, alongside the double-stranded DNA viruses. The positive-sense RNA viruses and indeed all genes defined as positive-sense can be directly accessed by host ribosomes to immediately form proteins. These can be divided into two groups, both of which replicate in the cytoplasm: Examples of this class include the families Coronaviridae , Flaviviridae , and Picornaviridae . The negative-sense RNA viruses and indeed all genes defined as negative-sense cannot be directly accessed by host ribosomes to immediately form proteins. Instead, they must be transcribed by viral polymerases into

2403-449: Is around 18–19 nm. Viral replication is nuclear. Entry into the host cell is achieved by penetration into the host cell. Replication follows the ssDNA rolling circle model. After infection of a host cell, the small DNA molecules that have become encapsidated with the genomic ssDNA act as primers . They bind to complementary regions and help in initiation of DNA synthesis by host polymerases . On completion of synthesis, there will be

2492-400: Is associated with proteins within a central disc structure known as a nucleoid . The nucleoid is surrounded by a membrane and two lateral bodies of unknown function. The virus has an outer envelope with a thick layer of protein studded over its surface. The whole virion is slightly pleomorphic , ranging from ovoid to brick-shaped. Mimivirus is one of the largest characterised viruses, with

2581-439: Is caused by cessation of its normal activities because of suppression by virus-specific proteins, not all of which are components of the virus particle. The distinction between cytopathic and harmless is gradual. Some viruses, such as Epstein–Barr virus , can cause cells to proliferate without causing malignancy, while others, such as papillomaviruses , are established causes of cancer. Some viruses cause no apparent changes to

2670-420: Is characterized by the virus passing through the plasma membrane of the host cell. The most common way a virus gains entry to the host cell is by receptor-mediated endocytosis , which comes at no energy cost to the virus, only the host cell. Receptor-mediated endocytosis occurs when a molecule (in this case a virus) binds to receptor on the membrane of the cell. A series of chemical signals from this binding causes

2759-448: Is controversy over whether the bornavirus , previously thought to cause neurological diseases in horses, could be responsible for psychiatric illnesses in humans. Viral replication Viruses multiply only in living cells. The host cell must provide the energy and synthetic machinery and the low-molecular-weight precursors for the synthesis of viral proteins and nucleic acids. Virus replication occurs in seven stages: It

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2848-512: Is correct. It seems unlikely that all currently known viruses have a common ancestor, and viruses have probably arisen numerous times in the past by one or more mechanisms. The first evidence of the existence of viruses came from experiments with filters that had pores small enough to retain bacteria. In 1892, Dmitri Ivanovsky used one of these filters to show that sap from a diseased tobacco plant remained infectious to healthy tobacco plants despite having been filtered. Martinus Beijerinck called

2937-498: Is first recorded in 1728, long before the discovery of viruses by Dmitri Ivanovsky in 1892. The English plural is viruses (sometimes also vira ), whereas the Latin word is a mass noun , which has no classically attested plural ( vīra is used in Neo-Latin ). The adjective viral dates to 1948. The term virion (plural virions ), which dates from 1959, is also used to refer to

3026-607: Is identical in sequence to the viral mRNA and is thus a coding strand, while negative-sense viral ssDNA is complementary to the viral mRNA and is thus a template strand. Several types of ssDNA and ssRNA viruses have genomes that are ambisense in that transcription can occur off both strands in a double-stranded replicative intermediate. Examples include geminiviruses , which are ssDNA plant viruses and arenaviruses , which are ssRNA viruses of animals. Genome size varies greatly between species. The smallest—the ssDNA circoviruses, family Circoviridae —code for only two proteins and have

3115-431: Is limited to a single strain of bacteria and they can be used to trace the source of outbreaks of infections by a method called phage typing . The complete set of viruses in an organism or habitat is called the virome ; for example, all human viruses constitute the human virome . A novel virus is one that has not previously been recorded. It can be a virus that is isolated from its natural reservoir or isolated as

3204-413: Is release, which is when the newly assembled and mature viruses leave the host cell. How a virus releases from the host cell is dependent on the type of virus it is. One common type of release is budding. This occurs when viruses that form their envelope from the host's plasma membrane bend the membrane around the capsid. As the virus bends the plasma membrane it begins to wrap around the whole capsid until

3293-418: Is the first step of viral replication. Some viruses attach to the cell membrane of the host cell and inject its DNA or RNA into the host to initiate infection. Attachment to a host cell is often achieved by a virus attachment protein that extends from the protein shell ( capsid ), of a virus. This protein is responsible for binding to a surface receptor on the plasma membrane (or membrane carbohydrates) of

3382-475: Is through disease-bearing organisms known as vectors : for example, viruses are often transmitted from plant to plant by insects that feed on plant sap , such as aphids ; and viruses in animals can be carried by blood-sucking insects. Many viruses spread in the air by coughing and sneezing, including influenza viruses , SARS-CoV-2 , chickenpox , smallpox , and measles . Norovirus and rotavirus , common causes of viral gastroenteritis , are transmitted by

3471-474: The CD4 molecule—a chemokine receptor —which is most commonly found on the surface of CD4+ T-Cells . This mechanism has evolved to favour those viruses that infect only cells in which they are capable of replication. Attachment to the receptor can induce the viral envelope protein to undergo changes that result in the fusion of viral and cellular membranes, or changes of non-enveloped virus surface proteins that allow

3560-685: The Circoviridae and Parvoviridae . They replicate within the nucleus, and form a double-stranded DNA intermediate during replication. A human Anellovirus called TTV is included within this classification and is found in almost all humans, infecting them asymptomatically in nearly every major organ . RNA viruses: The polymerase of RNA viruses lacks the proofreading functions found in the polymerase of DNA viruses. This contributed to RNA viruses having lower replicative fidelity compared to DNA viruses, causing RNA viruses to be highly mutagenic, which can increase their overall survival rate. RNA viruses lack

3649-540: The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) was formed. The system proposed by Lwoff, Horne and Tournier was initially not accepted by the ICTV because the small genome size of viruses and their high rate of mutation made it difficult to determine their ancestry beyond order. As such, the Baltimore classification system has come to be used to supplement the more traditional hierarchy. Starting in 2018,

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3738-675: The Latin vīrus , which refers to poison and other noxious liquids. Vīrus comes from the same Indo-European root as Sanskrit viṣa , Avestan vīša , and Ancient Greek ἰός ( iós ), which all mean "poison". The first attested use of "virus" in English appeared in 1398 in John Trevisa 's translation of Bartholomeus Anglicus 's De Proprietatibus Rerum . Virulent , from Latin virulentus ('poisonous'), dates to c.  1400 . A meaning of 'agent that causes infectious disease'

3827-484: The NCBI Virus genome database has more than 193,000 complete genome sequences, but there are doubtlessly many more to be discovered. A virus has either a DNA or an RNA genome and is called a DNA virus or an RNA virus , respectively. Most viruses have RNA genomes. Plant viruses tend to have single-stranded RNA genomes and bacteriophages tend to have double-stranded DNA genomes. Viral genomes are circular, as in

3916-505: The Reoviridae and Birnaviridae . Replication is monocistronic and includes individual, segmented genomes, meaning that each of the genes codes for only one protein, unlike other viruses, which exhibit more complex translation. These viruses consist of two types, however both share the fact that replication is primarily in the cytoplasm, and that replication is not as dependent on the cell cycle as that of DNA viruses. This class of viruses

4005-539: The common cold , influenza , chickenpox , and cold sores . Many serious diseases such as rabies , Ebola virus disease , AIDS (HIV) , avian influenza , and SARS are caused by viruses. The relative ability of viruses to cause disease is described in terms of virulence . Other diseases are under investigation to discover if they have a virus as the causative agent, such as the possible connection between human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome . There

4094-422: The faecal–oral route , passed by hand-to-mouth contact or in food or water. The infectious dose of norovirus required to produce infection in humans is fewer than 100 particles. HIV is one of several viruses transmitted through sexual contact and by exposure to infected blood. The variety of host cells that a virus can infect is called its host range : this is narrow for viruses specialized to infect only

4183-430: The germline of the host organisms, by which they can be passed on vertically to the offspring of the host for many generations. This provides an invaluable source of information for paleovirologists to trace back ancient viruses that existed as far back as millions of years ago. There are three main hypotheses that aim to explain the origins of viruses: In the past, there were problems with all of these hypotheses:

4272-454: The polyomaviruses , or linear, as in the adenoviruses . The type of nucleic acid is irrelevant to the shape of the genome. Among RNA viruses and certain DNA viruses, the genome is often divided into separate parts, in which case it is called segmented. For RNA viruses, each segment often codes for only one protein and they are usually found together in one capsid. All segments are not required to be in

4361-447: The three domains . This discovery has led modern virologists to reconsider and re-evaluate these three classical hypotheses. The evidence for an ancestral world of RNA cells and computer analysis of viral and host DNA sequences give a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships between different viruses and may help identify the ancestors of modern viruses. To date, such analyses have not proved which of these hypotheses

4450-449: The "readable" complementary positive-sense. These can also be divided into two groups: Examples in this class include the families Orthomyxoviridae , Paramyxoviridae , Bunyaviridae , Filoviridae , and Rhabdoviridae (which includes rabies ). A well-studied family of this class of viruses include the retroviruses . One defining feature is the use of reverse transcriptase to convert the positive-sense RNA into DNA. Instead of using

4539-527: The ICTV began to acknowledge deeper evolutionary relationships between viruses that have been discovered over time and adopted a 15-rank classification system ranging from realm to species. Additionally, some species within the same genus are grouped into a genogroup . The ICTV developed the current classification system and wrote guidelines that put a greater weight on certain virus properties to maintain family uniformity. A unified taxonomy (a universal system for classifying viruses) has been established. Only

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4628-504: The RNA for templates of proteins, they use DNA to create the templates, which is spliced into the host genome using integrase . Replication can then commence with the help of the host cell's polymerases. This small group of viruses, exemplified by the Hepatitis B virus, have a double-stranded, gapped genome that is subsequently filled in to form a covalently closed circle ( cccDNA ) that serves as

4717-484: The basis of similarities. In 1962, André Lwoff , Robert Horne , and Paul Tournier were the first to develop a means of virus classification, based on the Linnaean hierarchical system. This system based classification on phylum , class , order , family , genus , and species . Viruses were grouped according to their shared properties (not those of their hosts) and the type of nucleic acid forming their genomes. In 1966,

4806-423: The capacity to identify and repair mismatched or damaged nucleotides, and thus, RNA genomes are prone to mutations introduced by mechanisms intrinsic and extrinsic to viral replication. RNA viruses present a therapeutic double-edged sword: RNA viruses can withstand the challenge of antiviral drugs, cause epidemics, and infect multiple host species due to their mutagenic nature, making them difficult to treat. However,

4895-416: The cell by fusion of the extracellular viral envelope and the membrane of the host cell. Uncoating is the third step in viral replication. Uncoating is defined by the removal of the virion's protein "coat" and the release of its genetic material. This step occurs in the same area that viral transcription occurs. Different viruses have various mechanisms for uncoating. Some RNA viruses such as Rhinoviruses use

4984-665: The cell to forcefully undergo cell division , which may lead to transformation of the cell and, ultimately, cancer . An example of a family within this classification is the Adenoviridae . There is only one well-studied example in which a class 1 family of viruses does not replicate within the nucleus. This is the Poxvirus family, which comprises highly pathogenic viruses that infect vertebrates . Viruses that fall under this category include ones that are not as well-studied, but still do pertain highly to vertebrates. Two examples include

5073-506: The cell to wrap the attached virus in the plasma membrane around it forming a virus-containing vesicle inside the cell. Viruses enter host cells using a variety of mechanisms, including the endocytic and non-endocytic routes. They can also fuse at the plasma membrane and can spread within the host via fusion or cell-cell fusion. Viruses attach to proteins on the host cell surface known as cellular receptors or attachment factors to aid entry. Evidence shows that viruses utilize ion channels on

5162-410: The contrast between viruses and the background, electron-dense "stains" are used. These are solutions of salts of heavy metals, such as tungsten , that scatter the electrons from regions covered with the stain. When virions are coated with stain (positive staining), fine detail is obscured. Negative staining overcomes this problem by staining the background only. A complete virus particle, known as

5251-418: The discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 11,000 of the millions of virus species have been described in detail. The study of viruses is known as virology , a subspeciality of microbiology . When infected, a host cell is often forced to rapidly produce thousands of copies of the original virus. When not inside an infected cell or in the process of infecting

5340-431: The extreme of the ssRNA virus case. Viruses undergo genetic change by several mechanisms. These include a process called antigenic drift where individual bases in the DNA or RNA mutate to other bases. Most of these point mutations are "silent"—they do not change the protein that the gene encodes—but others can confer evolutionary advantages such as resistance to antiviral drugs . Antigenic shift occurs when there

5429-446: The filtered, infectious substance a "virus" and this discovery is considered to be the beginning of virology. The subsequent discovery and partial characterization of bacteriophages by Frederick Twort and Félix d'Herelle further catalyzed the field, and by the early 20th century many viruses had been discovered. In 1926, Thomas Milton Rivers defined viruses as obligate parasites. Viruses were demonstrated to be particles, rather than

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5518-399: The form of single-stranded nucleoprotein complexes, through pores called plasmodesmata . Bacteria, like plants, have strong cell walls that a virus must breach to infect the cell. Given that bacterial cell walls are much thinner than plant cell walls due to their much smaller size, some viruses have evolved mechanisms that inject their genome into the bacterial cell across the cell wall, while

5607-406: The host nucleus before it is able to replicate. Some of these viruses require host cell polymerases to replicate their genome , while others, such as adenoviruses or herpes viruses, encode their own replication factors. However, in either case, replication of the viral genome is highly dependent on a cellular state permissive to DNA replication and, thus, on the cell cycle . The virus may induce

5696-425: The host cell nucleus to replicate the viral genome. Many RNA viruses typically replicate in the cytosol , and can directly access the host cell's ribosomes to manufacture viral proteins once the RNA is in a replicative form. Viruses may undergo two types of life cycles: the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle. In the lytic cycle, the virus introduces its genome into a host cell and initiates replication by hijacking

5785-435: The host cells during viral entry. Fusion: External viral proteins promote the fusion of the virion with the plasma membrane. This forms a pore in the host membrane, and after entry, the virion becomes uncoated, and its genomic material is then transferred into the cytoplasm. Cell-to-cell fusion: Some viruses prompt specific protein expression on the surfaces of infected cells to attract uninfected cells. This interaction causes

5874-408: The host's cellular machinery to make new copies of the virus. In the lysogenic life cycle, the viral genome is incorporated into the host genome. The host genome will undergo its normal life cycle, replicating and dividing replicating the viral genome along with its own. The viral genome can be triggered to begin viral production via chemical and environmental stimulants. Once a lysogenic virus enters

5963-406: The host. At some point, the provirus or prophage may give rise to the active virus, which may lyse the host cells. Enveloped viruses (e.g., HIV) typically are released from the host cell by budding . During this process, the virus acquires its envelope, which is a modified piece of the host's plasma or other, internal membrane. The genetic material within virus particles, and the method by which

6052-517: The infected cell. Cells in which the virus is latent and inactive show few signs of infection and often function normally. This causes persistent infections and the virus is often dormant for many months or years. This is often the case with herpes viruses . Viruses are by far the most abundant biological entities on Earth and they outnumber all the others put together. They infect all types of cellular life including animals, plants, bacteria and fungi . Different types of viruses can infect only

6141-407: The low pH in a host cell's endosomes to activate their uncoating mechanism. This involves the rhinovirus releasing a protein that creates holes in the endosome, and allows the virus to release its genome through the holes. Many DNA viruses travel to the host cells nucleus and release their genetic material through nuclear pores. The fourth step in the viral cycle is replication, which is defined by

6230-447: The lytic life cycle, it will continue in the viral production pathways and proceed with transcription / mRNA production. (ex: Cold sores, herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1, lysogenic bacteriophages, etc.) Assembly is when the newly manufactured viral proteins and genomes are gathered and put together to form immature viruses. Like the other steps, how a particular virus is assembled is dependent on what type of virus it is. Assembly can occur in

6319-416: The material is replicated, varies considerably between different types of viruses. The range of structural and biochemical effects that viruses have on the host cell is extensive. These are called ' cytopathic effects '. Most virus infections eventually result in the death of the host cell. The causes of death include cell lysis, alterations to the cell's surface membrane and apoptosis . Often cell death

6408-461: The original virus. Their life cycle differs greatly between species, but there are six basic stages in their life cycle: Attachment is a specific binding between viral capsid proteins and specific receptors on the host cellular surface. This specificity determines the host range and type of host cell of a virus. For example, HIV infects a limited range of human leucocytes . This is because its surface protein, gp120 , specifically interacts with

6497-466: The plasma membrane, cytosol, nucleus, golgi apparatus, and other locations within the host cell. Some viruses only insert their genome into a capsid once the capsid is completed, while in other viruses the will capsid will wrap around the genome as it is being copied. This is the final step before a competent virus is formed. This typically involves capsid modifications that are provided enzymes (host or virus-encoded). The final step in viral replication

6586-416: The polymerase during genome replication. This process appears to be an adaptation for coping with genome damage. Viral populations do not grow through cell division, because they are acellular. Instead, they use the machinery and metabolism of a host cell to produce multiple copies of themselves, and they assemble in the cell. When infected, the host cell is forced to rapidly produce thousands of copies of

6675-960: The ranks of subrealm, subkingdom, and subclass are unused, whereas all other ranks are in use. The Nobel Prize-winning biologist David Baltimore devised the Baltimore classification system. The ICTV classification system is used in conjunction with the Baltimore classification system in modern virus classification. The Baltimore classification of viruses is based on the mechanism of mRNA production. Viruses must generate mRNAs from their genomes to produce proteins and replicate themselves, but different mechanisms are used to achieve this in each virus family. Viral genomes may be single-stranded (ss) or double-stranded (ds), RNA or DNA, and may or may not use reverse transcriptase (RT). In addition, ssRNA viruses may be either sense (+) or antisense (−). This classification places viruses into seven groups: Examples of common human diseases caused by viruses include

6764-408: The rapid production of the viral genome. How a virus undergoes replication relies on the type of genetic material the virus possesses. Based on their genetic material, viruses will hijack the corresponding cellular machinery for said genetic material. Viruses that contain double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) share the same kind of genetic material as all organisms, and can therefore use the replication enzymes in

6853-422: The regressive hypothesis did not explain why even the smallest of cellular parasites do not resemble viruses in any way. The escape hypothesis did not explain the complex capsids and other structures on virus particles. The virus-first hypothesis contravened the definition of viruses in that they require host cells. Viruses are now recognised as ancient and as having origins that pre-date the divergence of life into

6942-479: The result of spread to an animal or human host where the virus had not been identified before. It can be an emergent virus , one that represents a new virus, but it can also be an extant virus that has not been previously identified . The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic is an example of a novel virus. Classification seeks to describe the diversity of viruses by naming and grouping them on

7031-510: The reverse transcriptase protein that often comes with the RNA virus can be used as an indirect target for RNA viruses, preventing transcription and synthesis of viral particles. (This is the basis for anti-AIDs and anti-HIV drugs ) Like most viruses with RNA genomes, double-stranded RNA viruses do not rely on host polymerases for replication to the extent that viruses with DNA genomes do. Double-stranded RNA viruses are not as well-studied as other classes. This class includes two major families,

7120-451: The same virion for the virus to be infectious, as demonstrated by brome mosaic virus and several other plant viruses. A viral genome, irrespective of nucleic acid type, is almost always either single-stranded (ss) or double-stranded (ds). Single-stranded genomes consist of an unpaired nucleic acid, analogous to one-half of a ladder split down the middle. Double-stranded genomes consist of two complementary paired nucleic acids, analogous to

7209-462: The size of most bacteria. The origins of viruses in the evolutionary history of life are still unclear. Some viruses may have evolved from plasmids , which are pieces of DNA that can move between cells. Other viruses may have evolved from bacteria. In evolution, viruses are an important means of horizontal gene transfer , which increases genetic diversity in a way analogous to sexual reproduction . Viruses are considered by some biologists to be

7298-399: The structure-mediated self-assembly of the virus particles, some modification of the proteins often occurs. In viruses such as HIV, this modification (sometimes called maturation) occurs after the virus has been released from the host cell. Release – Viruses can be released from the host cell by lysis , a process that kills the cell by bursting its membrane and cell wall if present: this

7387-457: The study of the origin of life , as it lends further credence to the hypothesis that life could have started as self-assembling organic molecules . The virocell model first proposed by Patrick Forterre considers the infected cell to be the "living form" of viruses and that virus particles (virions) are analogous to spores . Although the living versus non-living debate continues, the virocell model has gained some acceptance. Viruses display

7476-404: The uninfected cell to fuse with the infected cell at lower pH levels to form a multinuclear cell known as a syncytium. Endocytic routes: the process by which an intracellular vesicle is formed by membrane invagination, which results in the engulfment of extracellular and membrane-bound components, in this context, a virus. Non-endocytic routes: the process by which viral particles are released into

7565-446: The viral messenger RNA (mRNA). Positive-sense viral RNA is in the same sense as viral mRNA and thus at least a part of it can be immediately translated by the host cell. Negative-sense viral RNA is complementary to mRNA and thus must be converted to positive-sense RNA by an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase before translation. DNA nomenclature for viruses with genomic ssDNA is similar to RNA nomenclature, in that positive-strand viral ssDNA

7654-824: The viral capsid remains outside. Uncoating is a process in which the viral capsid is removed: This may be by degradation by viral enzymes or host enzymes or by simple dissociation; the end-result is the releasing of the viral genomic nucleic acid. Replication of viruses involves primarily multiplication of the genome. Replication involves the synthesis of viral messenger RNA (mRNA) from "early" genes (with exceptions for positive-sense RNA viruses), viral protein synthesis , possible assembly of viral proteins, then viral genome replication mediated by early or regulatory protein expression. This may be followed, for complex viruses with larger genomes, by one or more further rounds of mRNA synthesis: "late" gene expression is, in general, of structural or virion proteins. Assembly – Following

7743-477: The virus is no longer attached to the host cell. Another common way viruses leave the host cell is through cell lysis , where the viruses lyse the cell causing it to burst which releases mature viruses that were in the host cell. Viruses are split into seven classes, according to the type of genetic material and method of mRNA production, each of which has its own families of viruses, which in turn have differing replication strategies themselves. David Baltimore ,

7832-503: The virus to enter. Penetration or viral entry follows attachment: Virions enter the host cell through receptor-mediated endocytosis or membrane fusion . The infection of plant and fungal cells is different from that of animal cells. Plants have a rigid cell wall made of cellulose , and fungi one of chitin, so most viruses can get inside these cells only after trauma to the cell wall. Nearly all plant viruses (such as tobacco mosaic virus) can also move directly from cell to cell, in

7921-460: The virus useless or uncompetitive. To compensate, RNA viruses often have segmented genomes—the genome is split into smaller molecules—thus reducing the chance that an error in a single-component genome will incapacitate the entire genome. In contrast, DNA viruses generally have larger genomes because of the high fidelity of their replication enzymes. Single-strand DNA viruses are an exception to this rule, as mutation rates for these genomes can approach

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