Viruses are non-cellular - what does this mean?
No nucleus
No cytoplasm
No organelles
What are viruses?
Small parasite/particle/agents
Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites - what does this mean?
They cannot reproduce outside of the host
How do viruses produce proteins and nucleic acids needed to reproduce?
What does a virion (entire particle) consist of?
Nucleic acids and protein capsule.
What can be used for classification of viruses?
RNA or DNA with protein structure
What standard organelles do viruses lack?
Mitochondria
Chloroplasts
What is differential diagnosis?
Possible conditions that share the same symptoms - could have many diagnoses.
What are the different ways we can classify viruses?
1) Nature of genome
2) Presence of an envelope
3) Morphology
4) Genome configuration
5) Genome size
6) Virion size
What are examples of poxviridae?
1) Bovine papular stomatitis virus - not in UK
2) Orf in sheep and goats
What are examples of Herpesviridae?
1) Aujeszkys disease in pigs - eradicated from UK but could return
2) Bovine infectious rhinotracheitis (IBR) = common
What’s in the normal cat vaccine?
What are examples of Parvoviridae?
What are examples of paramyxoviridae?
What’s an example of coronaviridae?
What is the size of most viruses and what do we need to see them?
20-250 nm
Require electron microscope
What is the size of most bacteria and what do we require to see them?
5-10 um
Light microscope
What is the size of a human erythrocyte and what do we require to see it?
8 um
Light microscope
The genome contains either … or …
DNA or RNA
What viruses are double stranded?
DNA viruses
What viruses are single-stranded?
RNA viruses
DNA replication happens where?
In the nucleus
Where does RNA replication happen?
Mostly in the cytoplasm
Where are DNA genes found and what type of mutation?
All genes are found on a single molecule (mostly small point mutation)