Virus:
Introduction
Dr Nazlina Haiza Mohd Yasin
[email protected]
Content
General classification of viruses.
-What are viruses?
- Characteristics of virus
- Component of viruses
- Structure and size of viruses
- Host range and specificity of viruses
Classification of viruses
- RNA viruses
- DNA viruses
What are viruses?
VIRUS
• Does not belong to any kingdom
• It is not a plant or animal
• It is not a fungi, protist or bacteria
What is a “virus”?
What are viruses?
Viruses (Encyclopedia Britannica)
..infectious agent of small size and simple composition
that can multiply only in living cells of animals, plants
and bacteria. Viruses are obligate parasites that are
metabolically inert when they are outside their hosts.
They all rely, to varying extents, on the metabolic
processes of their hosts to reproduce themselves. The
viral diseases we see are due to the effects of this
interaction between the virus and its host cell (and/or the
host respond to this interaction).
What are viruses?
A virus is an infectious agent made up of nucleic
acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a protein coat
called capsid.
Viruses have no nucleus, no organelles, no
cytoplasm or cell membrane – Non-cellular
That is why viruses are not belongs to any Kingdom
Characteristics of virus
Characteristics of virus
1) Too small
2) Non-cellular (no nucleus, organelles or cytoplasm)
3) Obligate intracellular parasite – able to replicate or
multiply only inside the living cells.
4) Virus cannot divide or live outside host cell
5) Outside host cell (extracellular) virus metabolism non-
active, cannot function the biosynthesis.
6) Once it has invaded the cell (infection), it able to direct
host machinery to synthesize new intact infectious virus
particles (virions) – REPLICATION process.
Characteristics of virus
A cluster of Tobacco mosaic virus
influenza virus in tobacco plant
Component of viruses
Virus component
1. Nucleic
acid
2. Capsid
3. Envelope
protein
Component of viruses
Nucleic acid
• Virus uniquely contain one form of nucleic acid
either DNA or RNA
• Viral nucleic acid can be double-stranded (DS)
or single-stranded (SS), linear, circular or
segmented.
Component of viruses
Capsids
• Nucleic acid core and the surrounding protein coat
called as CAPSID function as protective layer,
determine the shape of the virus and attachment of
some virus to host cells.
• Each capsid composed of protein subunit called
CAPSOMERES
• Number of protein and arrangement of viral capsomere
are characteristics of specific virus and thus important
in viral classification and identification.
Component of viruses
Component of viruses
Envelope Protein
Determine type of protein
1. Virus contain only capsid protein without envelope
called as NAKED VIRUS or NONENVELOPED
VIRUS.
2. ENVELOPED VIRUS has typical bilayer membrane
outside capsid. This membrane is carried from host
cell as they bud, or move out.
3. Envelope consist of lipid, protein and carbohydrate.
Component of viruses
Envelope Protein
• A complete virus particle, including its envelope is
called VIRION.
• A virion’s NUCLEOCAPSID comprises the viral
genome together with capsid.
Component of viruses
Envelope Protein
Comparison
NAKED VIRUS: Red ball are ENVELOPED VIRUS:
protein subunit which Consist of lipid
protect DNA. The subunit membrane which
called CAPSOMERES and covers protein capsid.
the whole coat protein Envelope is part of cell
called CAPSID. membrane.
Capsomere
Component of viruses
Envelope Protein
Advantages of envelope protein for viruses
1. Hidden from attack by the host’s immune system.
2. Help viruses infect new cells by fusion of the
envelope with the host’s cell or plasma
membrane.
3. Protect virus from drying
• Conversely, enveloped viruses are damaged easily.
• Environmental condition (↑ temp, freezing and
thawing, pH <6 or >8, lipid solvent, chemical
disinfectant (chlorine, H2O2 or phenol)) can destroy
enveloped virus
Component of viruses
Envelope Protein
• Depending on the virus, projections referred as spikes
may or may not extend from the viral envelope.
• These surface projections are glycoproteins that serve to
attach virions to specific receptor sites on susceptible
host cell surfaces.
• In certain viruses the possession of spikes causes various
types of red blood cells to clump, or hemagglutinate – a
property that is useful in viral identification.
Component of viruses
Glycoprotein
spikes
Structure and size of viruses
Structure and size of viruses
• Most viruses are too small to be seen by light
microscope.
• All viruses have different size, structure, shape, and
chemical composition.
• Sphere, cylinder, bullet shape, amorphous shaped.
• Unit in nanometer, 1000x smaller than 1µm.
• Smallest virus poliovirus 28 nm (size of ribosome).
Parvovirus 25 nm
• Largest virus, smallpox virus 200 nm in diameter.
Structure and size of viruses
Structure and size of viruses
Structure and size of viruses
Virus shape
• Determine by capsid or envelope
1) Helical shapes
o non-envelope (eg: Tobacco mosaic virus)
o A helical array of identical protein
TMV
subunits surround RNA molecules
o envelope helical (eg: rabies virus)
Structure and size of viruses
Virus shape
2. Polyhedral shape
ocapsid form geometric shapes with
flat sides (eg: faces) and edges.
o non-enveloped virus:
- Picornavirus and human
adenovirus
- Icosahedral (consist of 20 protein
subunits)
o Enveloped polyhedral: Togavirus,
herpesvirus
Adenovirus
Structure and size of viruses
Virus shape
3. Complex virus
o Bacterial virus, head
isocohedral and tail helix.
o Bacteriophage T4 from E.
coli consist of 20 different
proteins in tail, head.
o Poxvirus, T-EVEN PHAGE
(biggest bacteriophage,
most complex virus)
Structure and size of viruses
Some viral shape
Non-enveloped polyhedral Non-enveloped icosahedral symmetry
Papillomavirus Parvovirus
Human adenovirus
100 nm
Structure and size of viruses
Some viral shape
100 nm
Influenza virus
Herpesvirus complex
Parainfluenza virus
Poxvirus
Host range and specificity of viruses
Type of viruses
1. Animal viruses: Rabies, polio, mumps, chicken pox,
smallpox and influenza.
2. Plant viruses: TMV, banana streak virus, carrot thin
leaf virus
3. Bacterial viruses: Bacteriophage (T1, T2, T3 and T4).
>> Specific to what type of cell and organism they infect
- Polio – human nerve cell
- T4 – only certain strain of E. coli.
Host range and specificity of viruses
Host range specificity
• All viruses have limited host range and limited to
one HOST and to only specific cells/tissue attack to
specific receptor.
Host cell recognition
Complementary fit between external viral protein
and host cell surface protein
Host range and specificity of viruses
Host range specificity
1. Broad host range
Swine flu and rabies virus
Transmitted from animal to human
No evidence from human to human transmission
2. Narrow host range
Single tissue in a single species
Adenovirus, HIV
Phages on E. coli
Host range and specificity of viruses
Specificity of viruses
Determine by
Specific receptor on surface of host cell
Specific attachment structure on capsid or envelope
Appropriate host enzymes and other proteins for viral
replication available inside the cell
Replicated virus can be released from the cell to spread
the infection to other cells.
Classification of viruses
Classification of viruses
Based mainly on Virion and Kingdom of host
1) Use host cell type (Animal viruses, Plant viruses)
2) Use nucleic acid type (dsDNA, dsRNA, ssDNA,
ssRNA)
3) Use + or – polarity of RNA
+ is able to serve as mRNA. – is the complementary of +,
must function as template to make a complementary
strand of +RNA before any translation can occur.
4) Use virus coat morphology: enveloped vs non-
enveloped virus.
Classification of viruses
Hierarchical virus classification
Classification of viruses
Hierarchical virus classification
• At the moment, classification is only important
from the level of families down.
• All the families have the suffix viridae eg
- Poxviridae
- Herpesviridae
- Parvoviridae
- Retroviridae
Classification of viruses
Taxonomy of viruses
• Virologi 100 years, 1966, The International Code of
Virus Classification (ICTV), Virology Division of the
International Union of Microbiological Societies.
• Catalog of virus taxonomy and nomenclature approved
by the International Committee on Taxonomy of
Viruses.
• They are group according to the method devised by
David Baltimore.
Classification of viruses
How are viruses classified?
• For the first 60 years, there was no system
• Named according to:
o associated diseases. Eg: poliovirus, rabies
o type of disease cause. Eg: murine leukemia virus
o sites in the body affected or from which of the virus first
isolated. Eg: rhinovirus, adenovirus
o Place they were first isolated. Eg: Sendai virus
o after scientist who discover them. Eg: Epstein-Barr virus
oOr in a way people imagine they were contracted. Eg:
dengue (evil spirit), influenza (influence of bad air)
Classification of viruses
How are viruses classified?
• Three system
- The hierarchical
- Baltimore Classification System
- The genomic system
Classification of viruses
The hierarchical virus classification system
• Traditional hierarchical system: phylum > class > order >
family > subfamily > genus > species > strain/type.
• Group according to their shared properties
• Four main characteristics are used
- Nature of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA)
- Symmetry of the capsid
- Presence or absence of envelope
- Dimension of the virion and capsid
• At the moment, the classification only from the level of
families down
Classification of viruses
The Baltimore Classification
• 30 years ago, David Baltimore
• All viruses must produce mRNA, or (+) sense of
RNA
• The complementary strand of nucleic acid is (-)
sense
• The Baltimore classification has +RNA as its central
point
Classification of viruses
Viral Genome
Classification of viruses
The Genomic system
• More recently a precise ordering of viruses within and
between families is the possible based on DNA/RNA
sequence
• By the year 2000, there were over 4000 of viruses of
plants, animals and bacteria – 71 families, 9 subfamilies
and 164 genera.
Classification of viruses
RNA viruses
Classification of viruses
DNA
viruses
