Biol1334 PDF

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‫عنوان البحث‪Classification of viruses :‬‬

‫محمد أحمد حامد الصياد‬ ‫اسم الطالب‪:‬‬
‫‪Biology‬‬ ‫المادة‪:‬‬
‫‪1334‬‬ ‫رقم الجلوس‪:‬‬
‫البريد التعليمي‪[email protected] :‬‬
‫‪01122465232‬‬ ‫رقم التلفون‪:‬‬

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
In this research, we will know:
• Classification of viruses .
• Nomenclature .
• Structure and function of viruses.
• Morphology .
INTRODUCTION
Viruses are small obligate intracellular parasites, which by definition contain

either a RNA or DNA genome surrounded by a protective, virus-coded protein
coat. Viruses may be viewed as mobile genetic elements, most probably of cellular
origin and characterized by a long co-evolution of virus and host. For propagation
viruses depend on specialized host cells supplying the complex metabolic and
biosynthetic machinery of eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells. A complete virus
particle is called a virion. The main function of the virion is to deliver its DNA or
RNA genome into the host cell so that the genome can be expressed (transcribed
and translated) by the host cell. The viral genome, often with associated basic
proteins, is packaged inside a symmetric protein capsid. The nucleic acid-
associated protein, called nucleoprotein, together with the genome, forms the
nucleocapsid. In enveloped viruses, the nucleocapsid is surrounded by a lipid
bilayer derived from the modified host cell membrane and studded with an outer
layer of virus envelope glycoproteins.[1]
1
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Classification of Viruses
Morphology: Viruses are grouped on the basis of size and shape, chemical
composition and structure of the genome, and mode of replication. Helical
morphology is seen in nucleocapsids of many filamentous and pleomorphic
viruses. Helical nucleocapsids consist of a helical array of capsid proteins
(protomers) wrapped around a helical filament of nucleic acid. Icosahedral
morphology is characteristic of the nucleocapsids of many “spherical” viruses. The
number and arrangement of the capsomeres (morphologic subunits of the
icosahedron) are useful in identification and classification. Many viruses also have
an outer envelope. [2]
Chemical Composition and Mode of Replication: The genome of a virus may

consist of DNA or RNA, which may be single stranded (ss) or double stranded (ds),
linear or circular. The entire genome may occupy either one nucleic acid molecule
(monopartite genome) or several nucleic acid segments (multipartite genome).
The different types of genome necessitate different replication strategies.
Nomenclature
Aside from physical data, genome structure and mode of replication are
criteria applied in the classification and nomenclature of viruses, including the
2
chemical composition and configuration of the nucleic acid, whether the genome
is monopartite or multipartite. The genomic RNA strand of single-stranded RNA
viruses is called sense (positive sense, plus sense) in orientation if it can serve as
mRNA, and antisense (negative sense, minus sense) if a complementary strand
synthesized by a viral RNA transcriptase serves as mRNA. Also considered in viral
classification is the site of capsid assembly and, in enveloped viruses, the site of
envelopment.[3]
Structure and Function
Viruses are inert outside the host cell. Small viruses, e.g., polio and tobacco
mosaic virus, can even be crystallized. Viruses are unable to generate energy. As
obligate intracellular parasites, during replication, they fully depend on the
complicated biochemical machinery of eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells. The main
purpose of a virus is to deliver its genome into the host cell to allow its expression
(transcription and translation) by the host cell.[4]
A fully assembled infectious virus is called a virion. The simplest virions

consist of two basic components: nucleic acid (single- or double-stranded RNA or
DNA) and a protein coat, the capsid, which functions as a shell to protect the viral
genome from nucleases and which during infection attaches the virion to specific
receptors exposed on the prospective host cell. Capsid proteins are coded for by
the virus genome. Because of its limited size the genome codes for only a few
structural proteins (besides non-structural regulatory proteins involved in virus
replication). Capsids are formed as single or double protein shells and consist of
3
only one or a few structural protein species. Therefore, multiple protein copies
must self-assemble to form the continuous three-dimensional capsid structure.
Self-assembly of virus capsids follows two basic patterns: helical symmetry, in
which the protein subunits and the nucleic acid are arranged in a helix, and
icosahedral symmetry, in which the protein subunits assemble into a symmetric
shell that covers the nucleic acid-containing core.[5]
Some virus families have an additional covering, called the envelope, which is
usually derived in part from modified host cell membranes. Viral envelopes
consist of a lipid bilayer that closely surrounds a shell of virus-encoded
membrane-associated proteins. The exterior of the bilayer is studded with virus-
coded, glycosylated (trans-) membrane proteins. Therefore, enveloped viruses
often exhibit a fringe of glycoprotein spikes or knobs, also called peplomers. In
viruses that acquire their envelope by budding through the plasma or another
intracellular cell membrane, the lipid composition of the viral envelope closely
reflects that of the particular host membrane. The outer capsid and the envelope
proteins of viruses are glycosylated and important in determining the host range
and antigenic composition of the virion. In addition to virus-specified envelope
proteins, budding viruses carry also certain host cell proteins as integral
constituents of the viral envelope. Virus envelopes can be considered an
additional protective coat. Larger viruses often have a complex architecture
consisting of both helical and isometric symmetries confined to different
structural components. Small viruses, e.g., hepatitis B virus or the members of
the picornavirus or parvovirus family, are orders of magnitude more resistant
4
than are the larger complex viruses, e.g. members of the herpes or retrovirus
families.[6]
Classification of Viruses
Viruses are classified on the basis of morphology, chemical composition, and

mode of replication. The viruses that infect humans are currently grouped into 21
families, reflecting only a small part of the spectrum of the multitude of different
viruses whose host ranges extend from vertebrates to protozoa and from plants
and fungi to bacteria.
Morphology
Helical Symmetry
In the replication of viruses with helical symmetry, identical protein subunits

(protomers) self-assemble into a helical array surrounding the nucleic acid, which
follows a similar spiral path. Such nucleocapsids form rigid, highly elongated rods
or flexible filaments; in either case, details of the capsid structure are often
discernible by electron microscopy. In addition to classification as flexible or rigid
and as naked or enveloped, helical nucleocapsids are characterized by length,
width, pitch of the helix, and number of protomers per helical turn. The most
extensively studied helical virus is tobacco mosaic virus . Many important
structural features of this plant virus have been detected by x-ray diffraction
studies. [7]
5
Icosahedral Symmetry
An icosahedron is a polyhedron having 20 equilateral triangular faces and 12

vertices. Lines through opposite vertices define axes of fivefold rotational
symmetry: all structural features of the polyhedron repeat five times within each
360° of rotation about any of the fivefold axes. Lines through the centers of
opposite triangular faces form axes of threefold rotational symmetry; twofold
rotational symmetry axes are formed by lines through midpoints of opposite
edges. An icosaheron (polyhedral or spherical) with fivefold, threefold, and
twofold axes of rotational symmetry is defined as having 532 symmetry .
Viruses were first found to have 532 symmetry by x-ray diffraction studies and
subsequently by electron microscopy with negative-staining techniques. In most
icosahedral viruses, the protomers, i.e. the structural polypeptide chains, are
arranged in oligomeric clusters called capsomeres, which are readily delineated
by negative staining electron microscopy and form the closed capsid shell . The
arrangement of capsomeres into an icosahedral shell permits the classification of
such viruses by capsomere number and pattern. This requires the identification of
the nearest pair of vertex capsomeres (called penton: those through which the
fivefold symmetry axes pass) and the distribution of capsomeres between
them.[8]
6
Summary
On the basis of shared properties viruses are grouped at different

hierarchical levels of order, family, subfamily, genus and species. More than
30,000 different virus isolates are known today and grouped in more than 3,600
species, in 164 genera and 71 families. Viral morphology provides the basis for
grouping viruses into families. A virus family may consist of members that
replicate only in vertebrates, only in invertebrates, only in plants, or only in
bacteria. Certain families contain viruses that replicate in more than one of these
hosts. This section concerns only the 21 families and genera of medical
importance.
Besides physical properties, several factors pertaining to the mode of

replication play a role in classification: the configuration of the nucleic acid (ss or
ds, linear or circular), whether the genome consists of one molecule of nucleic acid
or is segmented, and whether the strand of ss RNA is sense or antisense. Also
considered in classification is the site of viral capsid assembly and, in enveloped
viruses, the site of nucleocapsid envelopment. [9]
REFERENCES
1. Caspar DLD: Design principles in virus particle construction. In

Horsfall FL, Tamm I (eds): Viral and Rickettsial Infections in Man. 4th Ed.
JB Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1975 .
7
2. Fields BN (ed): Virology. 3rd Ed. Lippincott-Raven
Press, 1995 .
3. Gajdusek DC. Unconventional viruses and the origin and
disappearance of kuru. Science. 1977;197:943.
4. Gelderblom HR. Assembly and morphology of HIV: potential effect of
structure on viral function. AIDS. 1991;5:617–637.
5. Mattern CFT: Symmetry in virus architecture. In Nayak DP (ed):
Molecular Biology of Animal Viruses. Marcel Dekker, New York, 1977 .
6. Morse SS (ed): The Evolutionary Biology of Viruses. Raven Press, New
York, 1994 .
7. Murphy FA, Fauquet CM, Bishop DHL, et al. (eds): Virus Taxonomy: Sixth
Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Springer-
Verlag, New York, 1995 .
8. Palmer EL, Martin ML: An Atlas of Mammalian Viruses. CRC Press, Boca
Raton, 1988 .
9. Nermut MV, Stevens AC (eds): Animal Virus Structure. Elsevier,
Amsterdam, 1989 .

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‫جامعة بنها‬

‫كلية الطب البيطري‬

‫المرجع المطلوب من طالب الكلية‬

‫عنوان البحث‪Classification of viruses :‬‬

‫‪1334‬‬ ‫رقم الجلوس‪:‬‬

‫البريد التعليمي‪[email protected] :‬‬

‫‪01122465232‬‬ ‫رقم التلفون‪:‬‬

In this research, we will know:

Viruses are small obligate intracellular parasites, which by definition contain

Chemical Composition and Mode of Replication: The genome of a virus may

Structure and Function

A fully assembled infectious virus is called a virion. The simplest virions

Viruses are classified on the basis of morphology, chemical composition, and

In the replication of viruses with helical symmetry, identical protein subunits

An icosahedron is a polyhedron having 20 equilateral triangular faces and 12

On the basis of shared properties viruses are grouped at different

Besides physical properties, several factors pertaining to the mode of

1. Caspar DLD: Design principles in virus particle construction. In

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