BIO 205

Chapter 13
Viruses
 What are Viruses?

Viruses Are Tiny Infectious Agents

•Viruses are small, obligate intracellular parasites

•They lack the machinery for generating energy and large molecules

•They need a host eukaryote or prokaryote to replicate

•The viral genome contains either DNA or RNA, but not both

•The capsid is the protein coat, made up of capsomeres

•The nucleocapsid is the capsid with its enclosed genome

•Some capsid proteins are spikes that help the virus attach to and
penetrate the host cell
– Naked viruses are
composed only of a
nucleocapsid

– Viruses surrounded by an
envelope are enveloped
viruses

– A virion is a completely
assembled, infectious
virus outside its host cell
Size Relationships Among
Viruses AreMicroorganisms
Very Small and Viruses
 Viruses Are Grouped by Their Shape

•Helical viruses have helical symmetry

•Isocahedral viruses have isocahedral symmetry

•Viruses that have both helical and isocahedral

symmetry have complex symmetry
 Smallpox
Complex Virus
Rabies
Helical Virus Herpes, Icosahedral Virus
Viruses Have a Host Range and Tissue Specificity

•A host range refers to what organisms the

virus can infect

•Host range depends on capsid structure

•Many viruses infect certain cell or tissue

types within the host (tissue tropism)
 The Classification of Viruses

Nomenclature and Classification Do Not Use Conventional

Taxonomic Groups

•Viruses can be named according to a

number of different conventions

•The International Committee on

Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is developing
a classification system

•DNA viruses contain single- or double-

stranded DNA genomes
RNA viruses contain single- or double-stranded
RNA genomes

+ strand RNA viruses have mRNA genomes

– strand RNA viruses have RNA strands that

would be complementary to mRNA

Retroviruses are replicated indirectly through a

DNA intermediate
 Viral Replication and its Control

The Replication of Bacteriophages Is a

Five-Step Process

T-even group bacteriophages are

virulent viruses that carry out a
lytic cycle of infection

The phage nucleic acid contains

only a few of the genes needed for
viral synthesis and replication
Bacteriophage
Phase 1: Attachment occurs when a phage’s tail fibers match
with a receptor site on the bacterium’s cell wall

Phase 2: Penetration occurs when the phage tail releases

lysozymeto dissolve a portion of the cell wall. Phage DNA is
injected into the bacterial cytoplasm

Phase 3: Biosynthesis is the production of new phage

genomes and capsid parts

Phase 4: Maturation is the assembly of viral parts into

complete virus particles

Phase 5: Release is the exit of virionsfrom the bacterium. It

is also called the lysis stage when the cell is ruptured
Temperate phages do not lyse the host

They insert their DNA into the bacterial chromosome as

a prophage (lysogenic cycle)
Animal Virus Replication Has Similarities to Phage Replication

Animal viruses attach to host plasma membrane via spikes on the capsid
or envelope
•Since receptor sites vary from person to person,
some people are more susceptible to a certain
virus than others

•Animal viruses are usually taken into the

cytoplasm as intact nucleocapsids

•Uncoating is the separation of the capsid from

the genome

•This occurs as some animal viruses enter the

cell
After the new viruses are assembled, envelope proteins are incorporated into a
cellular membrane

The virus buds, taking the membrane part with it as an envelope

 Proviruses
Some Animal Viruses Can Exist as
Proviruses

Some DNA viruses and

retroviruses insert their genome
into the host chromosome as a
provirus

Retroviruses use reverse

transcriptase to transcribe their
RNA to DNA

It can then be inserted into the

host chromosome

HIV
The provirus encodes a repressor protein that
prevents activation of the viral genes necessary
for replication

It is in a state of latency

Latent proviruses are immune to the host body’s

defenses

They are propagated each time the cell’s

chromosome is reproduced

Eventually the provirus will be activated and

replicate
Antiviral Drugs Can Be Used to Treat a Limited Number of
Human Viral Diseases

Antibiotics do not work against viruses

Viruses lack the elements with which antibiotics

interfere

Some antivirals exist to affect:

•viral penetration/uncoating
•genome replication
•maturation/release
Most antivirals target the replication enzymes of the
virus by:
•inserting base analogs in the replicating DNA
strand
•blocking replication of the viral genome

Reverse transcriptase inhibitors prevent the synthesis

of DNA in retroviruses

Protease inhibitors impede the HIV protease that trims

viral proteins in capsid construction

Neuraminidase inhibitors block an enzyme in the spike

of influenzaviruses

This prevents the release of new virions into the body

 Interferon

Interferon Puts Cells in an Antiviral State

•Interferon (IFN) is a group of naturally-

produced proteins that alert cells to a viral
infection

•Some IFNs have anti-cancer properties

•Cells in an antiviral state can inhibit viral

replication by preventing protein synthesis
IFNs bind to receptors on cells, triggering them to produce antiviral proteins
Viruses and Virus-Like
Agents
 Cancer and Viruses

Cancer Is an Uncontrolled Growth and Spread of Cells

A tumor is a clone of abnormal cells

Normally, the body surrounds a tumor with a

capsule of connective tissue

•A benign tumor
Tumor cells can break free from the capsule and
spread to other tissues of the body (metastasis)
•A malignant tumor
•Viruses Are Responsible for up
to 20 Percent of human Tumors.

•60-90% of human cancers are

associated with carcinogens.
Oncogenic viruses include:

•Epstein-Barr virus is linked to Burkitt

Lymphoma, a tumor of the jaw

•Human papilloma virus (HPV) is associated

with cervical cancer

•There is now a vaccine against the 2 most

common strains of HPV
Oncogenic Viruses Transform Infected Cells

The oncogene theory suggests that

protooncogenes normally reside in the
chromosomal DNA of a cell

They can be transformed to oncogenes by:

•radiation
•chemical carcinogens
•DNA damage
•viruses
The Oncogene Theory
•Sometimes a virus inserts its DNA (as a provirus) into a
cell’s chromosome next to a protooncogene

•When virus replication is triggered, the provirus replicates

its only DNA as well as a few adjacent host genes

•V-oncogenes are protooncogenes captured in the viral

genome

•When the oncogenic viruses infect another cell, the v-

oncogene is under the virus’ control not the cell’s control

•The v-oncogene can then code of growth factors

stimulating uncontrolled cell proliferation
Oncogenic Virus
 Emerging Viruses and Viral Evolution

•Emerging Viruses Usually Arise Through Natural

Phenomena

•Emerging viruses may spread to new populations,

or may expand host range

•Genetic recombination can lead to “new” viruses

•Mutation can occasionally be advantageous and

create a new or new strain of virus
 Virus-Like Agents

Viroids Are Infectious RNA particles

•Viroids are tiny fragments of RNA

that cause diseases in crop plants

•The replication cycle and disease

causation process of viroids are not
understood

•One hypothesis suggests they

originated as introns
 Prions
Prions Are Infectious Proteins

Transmissible spongiform ecephalopathies

(TSEs) can occur in humans and other animals
•For example, mad cow disease

TSEs are neurologic degenerative diseases that

can be transmitted within or between species

Originally, scientists believed TSEs were caused

by a virus

Stanley Prusiner discovered the proteinaceous

infectious particle (prion)
Brain tissue showing effects of a prion disease
•The protein-only hypothesis predicts that prions are
composed only of protein and contain no nucleic acids

•Normal cellular prions have a different shape than

abnormal prions, the latter of which cause TSEs

•TSEs may spread when infectious prions bind to normal

prions.

•This causes normal prions to change shape and become

abnormal

•Abnormal prions do not trigger an immune response

Death of the host occurs from nerve cell death
leading to sponge-like holes in brain tissue

Symptoms include:
•dementia
•weakened muscles
•loss of balance

This results from insoluble aggregates of

abnormal prions in the brain
End of Chapter 13