BASIC VIROLOGY

 General characteristics
 Viral structure
 Nomenclature and classification
Virology
• Virology is the study of viruses – submicroscopic, parasitic particles
of genetic material contained in a protein coat
• Virion : Structurally mature, extracellular virus particles
Virion
envelope

Capsid

Viral core
 Viral life cycle
• Viral life cycle consists of six stages within the host cell
• Attachment
• Penetration
• Uncoating
• Multiplication
• Assembly
• Release
 General characteristics
1) A cellular, non-cytoplasmic infectious agents
2) Smaller than bacteria
3) Viruses are transmissible from disease to healthy organisms
4) Obligate parasites
5) Viruses contain only a single type of nucleic acid either DNA
or RNA
6) Viruses are host specific that they infect only a single species
and definite cells of the host organisms
7) Viruses are effective in very small doses.
8) They are highly resistant to germicides and extremes of
physical conditions
Generalised Structure of Viruses:
• Because most viruses are extremely well adapted to their host
organism, virus structure varies greatly.
• However, there are some general structural characteristics
that all viruses share.
Structure
• Capsid or head region
• The capsid is made of proteins and glycoproteins.
• Capsid construction varies greatly among viruses.
• Some viruses, mostly of the type infecting animals, have a
membranous envelope surrounding their capsid.
• Allows viruses to penetrate host cells through membrane fusion.
• The virus's genetical material rests inside the capsid; that material
can be either DNA, RNA, in some cases a limited number of
enzymes.
• The type of genetic material a virus contains is used in classification,
and is discussed in Virus Classification
Structure
• In addition to the head region, some viruses, mostly those that
infect bacteria, have a tail region.
• The tail is an often elaborate protein structure.
• It aids in binding to the surface of the host cell and in the
introduction of virus genetic material to the host cell.
(i) Shape and size:
 Size - 1/10 to 1/1000 the size of an ordinary bacterial cell
They may be
• Spherical
• Rod-shaped
• Brick-shaped
• Tadpole-shaped
• Bullet-shaped
• Filament
Shapes of Viruses : Spherical
Shapes of Viruses :Rod-shaped
Shapes
.
of Viruses :Brick-shaped
Tadpole-shaped
Shapes of Viruses :Bullet-shaped
Shapes of Viruses :Filament
(ii) Chemical structure and function:
• Viruses have a very simple structure
• The core of the viruses is made upon of nucleic acid, which is
surrounded by a protein coat called capsid
• The infectious property of a virus is due to its nucleic acid.
Capsid or the protein coats:
• It is made up of many identical protein sub-units called
capsomeres.
• The capsomeres are composed of either one or several type of
proteins.
• Capsomeres are arranged in a very symmetrical manner and
give a specific shape to a particular virus.
• The host specificity of virus is due to proteins of the capsid.
 Envelope
• A lipid-containing membrane that surrounds some viral
particles.
• It is acquired during viral maturation by a budding
process through a cellular membrane,
• Viruses-encoded glycoproteins are exposed on the
surface of the envelope.
Functions of envelope

• Antigenicity
• Infectivity
• Resistance
Viruses can be divided into 2 kinds
oEnveloped virus and
oNaked virus.
Properties of enveloped
viruses
• Labile in dry , arid environment
(Must stay moist)
• Damaged by drying, acid, detergent,
and heat
• Pick up new cell membrane during
multiplication
• Virus is released` by budding
• Humoral and cell-mediated immunity
are needed to control the infection
Virus is released` by budding
Properties of naked viruses
• Stable in hostile environment
• Not damaged by drying, acid, detergent, and heat
• Released by lysis of host cells
• Can sustain in dry environment
• Can infect the GI tract and survive in the acid and
bile
• Can spread easily via hands, dust, fomites, etc
• Can stay dry and still retain infectivity
Released by lysis of host cells
Biological position of viruses:
• Viruses lack a cytoplasmic membrane and they do not have
the basic component of a cell.
• They can only replicate inside the host cell. Outside the host
cell, they are non-living.
• Thus, viruses show characters of both living and non-living.
(I) Non-living Characters of Viruses:
Following characters of viruses assign them as non-living:
(a) They can be crystallized.
(b) Outside the cell, they behave like inert chemicals.
(c) They do not show growth, development, nutrition,
reproduction, etc. out side the host cell.
(II) Living characters of viruses:
(a) They multiply within host cells.
(b) They possess genetic material, either DNA or RNA.
(c) They exhibit mutations.
Because of the above reasons, viruses form unique bridge
between living and non-living things.
Nomenclature and classification
• Virus classification is the process of naming viruses and
placing them into a taxonomic system.
• Viruses are mainly classified by phenotypic characteristics,
such as morphology , nucleic acid type, mode of replication,
host organisms , and the type of disease they cause.
Nomenclature and
classification
• Currently there are two main schemes used for the
classification of viruses:
• The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)
system
• Baltimore classification system,
International Committee on
Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)
• A universal system for classifying viruses , and a unified taxonomy,
has been established by the International Committee on Taxonomy
of Viruses (ICTV) since 1966.
• The system makes use of a series of ranked taxons, with the:
• - Order (-virales)being the highest currently recognised.
• - then Family (-viridae)
• - Subfamily (-virinae)
• - Genus (-virus)
• - Species ( eg: Tobacco mosaic virus)
International Committee on
Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)
• The current (2005) Eighth Report of the ICTV lists more than
5,400 viruses in 1938 species, 287 genera, 73 families and 3
orders.
• Orders include:
• Caudovirales, tailed dsDNA phages
• Mononegavirales, viruses with enveloped virions with similar
ss(-)RNA genomes
• Nidovirales, viruses with enveloped globular virions with
similar ss(+)RNA genomes
The Baltimore Classification
• The Baltimore classification, developed by David Baltimore, is
a virus classification system that groups viruses into families,
depending on their type of genome (DNA, RNA, single-
stranded (ss), double-stranded (ds), etc.) and their method
of replication.
The Baltimore Classification
• Viruses can be classified into seven (arbitrary) groups:
I: Double-stranded DNA (Adenoviruses; Herpesviruses; Poxviruses, etc)
II: Single-stranded (+)sense DNA (Parvoviruses)
III: Double-stranded RNA (Reoviruses; Birnaviruses)
IV: Single-stranded (+)sense RNA (Picornaviruses; Togaviruses, etc)
V: Single-stranded (-)sense RNA (Rhabdoviruses)
VI: Single-stranded (+)sense RNA with DNA intermediate in life-cycle
(Retroviruses)
VII: Double-stranded DNA with RNA intermediate (Hepadnaviruses)
Viral Diseases
• -Examples
• Influenza (Group V)
• Rabies (Group V)
• HIV (Group VI)
• Hepatitis (Group IV & Group VII)
• Polio (Group IV)