Virus Grade 7

Virus
Virus, infectious agent of small size and

simple composition that can multiply only in living cells
of animals, plants, or bacteria. The name is from a Latin word
meaning “slimy liquid” or “poison.”
The earliest indications of the biological nature of viruses

came from studies in 1892 by the Russian scientist Dmitry I.
Ivanovsky and in 1898 by the Dutch scientist Martinus W.
Beijerinck. Both of these investigators found that
a disease of tobacco plants could be transmitted by an agent,
later called tobacco mosaic virus, passing through a minute
filter that would not allow the passage of bacteria. This virus
and those subsequently isolated would not grow on an artificial
medium and were not visible under the light microscope.
The unique nature of these agents meant that new methods

and alternative models had to be developed to study and
classify them. In 1933 the British investigators Wilson
Smith, Christopher H. Andrewes, and Patrick P. Laidlaw were
able to transmit influenza to ferrets, and the influenza virus
was subsequently adapted to mice.
Scientists were soon able to detect the number of bacterial

viruses in a culture vessel by measuring their ability to break
apart (lyse) adjoining bacteria. The American scientist Renato
Dulbecco in 1952 applied this technique to measuring the
number of animal viruses that could produce plaques in layers
of adjoining animal cells overlaid with agar. In the 1940s the
development of the electron microscope permitted individual
virus particles to be seen for the first time, leading to the
classification of viruses and giving insight into their structure.
General features
Definition
Viruses occupy a special taxonomic position: they are not

plants, animals, or prokaryotic bacteria (single-cell organisms
without defined nuclei), and they are generally placed in their
own kingdom. In fact, viruses should not even be considered
organisms, in the strictest sense, because they are not free-
living—i.e., they cannot reproduce and carry on metabolic
processes without a host cell.
All true viruses contain nucleic acid—

either DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid)—
and protein. The nucleic acid encodes the genetic information
unique for each virus. The infective, extracellular (outside the
cell) form of a virus is called the virion. It contains at least one
unique protein synthesized by specific genes in the nucleic
acid of that virus. In virtually all viruses, at least one of these
proteins forms a shell (called a capsid) around the nucleic
acid. Certain viruses also have other proteins internal to the
capsid; some of these proteins act as enzymes, often during
the synthesis of viral nucleic acids. Viroids (meaning
“viruslike”) are disease-causing organisms that contain only
nucleic acid and have no structural proteins.
Viruses are parasites; they depend on the host cell for almost
all of their life-sustaining functions. Unlike true organisms,
viruses cannot synthesize proteins, because they
lack ribosomes.
Viruses are also energy parasites; unlike cells, they cannot

generate or store energy in the form of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). The virus derives energy, as well as all
other metabolic functions, from the host cell. The invading
virus uses the nucleotides and amino acids of the host cell to
synthesize its nucleic acids and proteins, respectively.
The true infectious part of any virus is its nucleic acid, either
DNA or RNA but never both. In many viruses, but not all, the
nucleic acid alone, stripped of its capsid, can infect (transfect)
cells, although considerably less efficiently than can the
intact virions.
Host range and distribution
Logic originally dictated that viruses be identified on the basis

of the host they infect. This is justified in many cases but not in
others, and the host range and distribution of viruses are only
one criterion for their classification. It is still traditional to
divide viruses into three categories: those that infect animals,
plants, or bacteria.
Virtually all plant viruses are transmitted by insects or other

organisms (vectors) that feed on plants. The hosts of animal
viruses vary from protozoans (single-celled animal organisms)
to humans. Many viruses infect either invertebrate animals or
vertebrates, and some infect both. Certain viruses that cause
serious diseases of animals and humans are carried
by arthropods. These vector-borne viruses multiply in both the
invertebrate vector and the vertebrate host.
Size and shape
The amount and arrangement of the proteins and nucleic

acid of viruses determine their size and shape.
Shapes of viruses are predominantly of two kinds: rods, or
filaments, so called because of the linear array of the nucleic
acid and the protein subunits; and spheres, which are actually
20-sided (icosahedral) polygons. Most plant viruses are small
and are either filaments or polygons, as are many bacterial
viruses. The larger and more-complex bacteriophages,
however, contain as their genetic information double-stranded
DNA and combine both filamentous and polygonal shapes. The
classic T4 bacteriophage is composed of a polygonal head,
which contains the DNA genome and a special-function rod-
shaped tail of long fibres. Structures such as these are unique
to the bacteriophages.
Animal viruses exhibit extreme variation in size and shape. The

smallest animal viruses measure about 20 nm and about 30 nm
in diameter, respectively.
The nucleic acid
As is true in all forms of life, the nucleic acid of each virus

encodes the genetic information for the synthesis of
all proteins. In almost all free-living organisms, the genetic
information is in the form of double-stranded DNA arranged as
a spiral lattice joined at the bases along the length of
the molecule (a double helix). In viruses, however, genetic
information can come in a variety of forms, including single-
stranded or double-stranded DNA or RNA.
The virions of most plant viruses and many animal and

bacterial viruses are composed of single-stranded RNA.
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Virus

Virus, infectious agent of small size and

The earliest indications of the biological nature of viruses

The unique nature of these agents meant that new methods

Scientists were soon able to detect the number of bacterial

Viruses occupy a special taxonomic position: they are not

All true viruses contain nucleic acid—

Viruses are also energy parasites; unlike cells, they cannot

Host range and distribution

Logic originally dictated that viruses be identified on the basis

Virtually all plant viruses are transmitted by insects or other

Size and shape

The amount and arrangement of the proteins and nucleic

Animal viruses exhibit extreme variation in size and shape. The

The nucleic acid

As is true in all forms of life, the nucleic acid of each virus

The virions of most plant viruses and many animal and

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