VTPB 405 Lecture 11: Guest Lecture 11 Viruses
6 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Viruses were rst called lterable agents because of how small in size they were compared to bacteria. Viruses are infectious agents that have genomes surrounded by a protein coat (capsids). The capsids are symmetrical - spherical or rod shaped. Are obligate intracellular parasites - must have some host cell to replicate off of assemble de novo - from nucleic acid and protein components. But viruses do have genomes that can be dna or rna. Naked (no envelope) viruses facilitate entry of the genome into the cell and target the immune responses. Envelope proteins bind to the cell receptors and allow entry of the genome. These viruses are easier to inactivate than non-envelope viruses (ex: drying them out) Lipid bilayers surround the capsids of some viruses retroviruses - can have either dna or rna genome -> can switch when infecting a host cell. Lock and key mechanism may occur after fusion at the cel membrane or after endocytosis.
