How does the structure of a virus relate to its function?
The capsid has three functions: 1) it protects the nucleic acid from digestion by enzymes, 2) contains special sites on its surface that allow the virion to attach to a host cell, and 3) provides proteins that enable the virion to penetrate the host cell membrane and, in some cases, to inject the infectious nucleic …
What is the basic structure of a virus quizlet?
1. Describe the general structure of a virus. Nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat called a capsid. Virus may be naked or enveloped.
What is the makeup of a virus?
A virus is made up of a core of genetic material, either DNA or RNA, surrounded by a protective coat called a capsid which is made up of protein. Sometimes the capsid is surrounded by an additional spikey coat called the envelope. Viruses are capable of latching onto host cells and getting inside them.
What are viruses describe its properties?
Viruses are the smallest infectious agents (ranging from about 20 to 300 nm in diameter) and contain only one kind of nucleic acid (RNA or DNA) as their genome. The nucleic acid is encased in a protein shell, which may be surrounded by a lipid-containing membrane. The entire infectious unit is termed a virion.
What are 3 characteristics of a virus?
They can mutate.They are acellular, that is, they contain no cytoplasm or cellular organelles.They carry out no metabolism on their own and must replicate using the host cell’s metabolic machinery. In other words, viruses don’t grow and divide. The vast majority of viruses possess either DNA or RNA but not both.
What are 5 characteristics of viruses?
These are: 1) attachment; 2) penetration; 3) uncoating; 4) replication; 5) assembly; 6)release. As shown in , the virus must first attach itself to the host cell. This is usually accomplished through special glycoprotiens on the exterior of the capsid, envelope or tail.
Do viruses meet the 7 characteristics of life?
According to the seven characteristics of life, all living beings must be able to respond to stimuli; grow over time; produce offspring; maintain a stable body temperature; metabolize energy; consist of one or more cells; and adapt to their environment.
What do all viruses have in common?
All viruses have genetic material (a genome) made of nucleic acid. You, like all other cell-based life, use DNA as your genetic material. Viruses, on the other hand, may use either RNA or DNA, both of which are types of nucleic acid.
How do viruses work in the body?
It invades a cell, inserts its DNA and creates thousands of copies of itself, bursts through the cell membrane, killing the cell, and each new viral strand invades new cells replicating the process. In the lysogenic cycle, viruses remain dormant within its host cells. The virus may remain dormant for years.
How does the body fight a virus?
Our immune system is designed to recognise the cells that make up our bodies and repel any foreign invaders such as viruses. They do this by using a huge army of defender cells which consist of different types of white blood cell. We make around a billion of them every day in our bone marrow.
How do viruses affect the body?
Viruses make us sick by killing cells or disrupting cell function. Our bodies often respond with fever (heat inactivates many viruses), the secretion of a chemical called interferon (which blocks viruses from reproducing), or by marshaling the immune system’s antibodies and other cells to target the invader.
What are 3 diseases caused by viruses?
Viral diseasessmallpox.the common cold and different types of flu.measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and shingles.hepatitis.herpes and cold sores.polio.rabies.Ebola and Hanta fever.
What is the best treatment for viral infections?
For most viral infections, treatments can only help with symptoms while you wait for your immune system to fight off the virus. Antibiotics do not work for viral infections. There are antiviral medicines to treat some viral infections. Vaccines can help prevent you from getting many viral diseases.
Who is the father of viruses?
Martinus Beijerinck
What causes virus?
Viruses infect a host by introducing their genetic material into the cells and hijacking the cell’s internal machinery to make more virus particles. With an active viral infection, a virus makes copies of itself and bursts the host cell (killing it) to set the newly-formed virus particles free.
Why is virus important?
The importance of a virus is not due to the virus itself, but to the hosts they infect and affect, and many viruses are important because they cause diseases in humans, animals, or crops.
Is virus useful or harmful?
Some of the viruses infecting humans are indeed capable of causing severe and often lethal diseases, but other viruses can be manipulated to be beneficial to human health. These viruses offer the potential to cure cancer, correct genetic disorders, or fight pathogenic viral infections.
What virus is good for?
Beneficial viral infections Some viruses we come across protect humans against infection by other pathogenic viruses. For example, latent (non-symptomatic) herpes viruses can help human natural killer cells (a specific type of white blood cell) identify cancer cells and cells infected by other pathogenic viruses.