Viruses, Viroids, & Prions (Acellular Microbiology)

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to viruses, viroids, and prions as discussed in the lecture.

Virus

A noncellular particle containing a genome that can replicate only inside a host cell.

Bacteriophage

A type of virus that infects bacteria.

Virion

A complete virus particle.

Nucleocapsid

The combination of a virus's nucleic acid and the protein coat or capsid.

Capsid

The protein coat surrounding the viral genome, made of protein subunits called capsomeres.

Obligate Intracellular Parasite

An organism that can only replicate inside a host cell.

Naked Virus

A virus without an envelope, consisting only of a nucleocapsid.

Enveloped Virus

A virus that has a lipid bilayer membrane surrounding its nucleocapsid.

Antigenic Drift

Gradual accumulation of mutations in a virus, leading to small changes over time.

Antigenic Shift

Sudden large changes in a virus, often due to recombination or reassortment.

Prophage

A viral genome that has integrated into a bacterial host's genome.

CRISPR

A bacterial immune system that remembers phage sequences to protect against future infections.

Reverse Transcriptase

An enzyme used by retroviruses to convert RNA into DNA.

Lytic Infection

A viral replication cycle that results in the destruction of the host cell.

Lysogenic Infection

A viral replication cycle where the viral genome integrates into the host genome and can remain quiescent.

Viroid

A virus-like infectious agent consisting solely of RNA, primarily infecting plants.

Prion

An infectious agent composed only of protein, with no nucleic acid, and linked to neurodegenerative diseases.

Genome

The complete set of genetic material of an organism, important for classifying viruses.