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Obligate Parasites

Organisms that must live and reproduce inside a host cell because they cannot survive or replicate independently.

Virions

The complete infectious form of a virus outside a host cell, consisting of the viral genome enclosed in a protein coat (capsid).

Zoonotic

Refers to diseases or infections that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Bacteriophages

Viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria, also known as phages.

Endemic

A disease or infection that is consistently present within a specific population or region.

Epidemics

A sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease within a specific population or geographic area.

Variolation

An early method of inducing immunity to smallpox by exposing an individual to material from smallpox lesions.

Vaccination

A method of inducing immunity by exposing an individual to a weakened, killed, or part of a pathogen.

Attenuated

Refers to a weakened or non-virulent form of a pathogen used in vaccines to stimulate immunity without causing disease.

Pathogen

Any microorganism that causes disease, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.

Koch’s Postulates

A set of criteria used to establish a causal relationship between a microbe and a disease.

Lysis

The breaking open of a cell, often caused by viruses bursting out after replication.

Lysogeny

A viral replication strategy where the virus integrates its genome into the host’s DNA and remains dormant.

Lysogenic

Refers to a bacterium infected with a dormant (latent) virus that has incorporated its genetic material into the host genome.

Prophage

A latent form of a bacteriophage, where the viral DNA has integrated into the host bacterial genome.

Primary Cells

Cells directly isolated from living tissues, used in laboratory studies, that can only divide a limited number of times.

Viroids

Infectious agents composed only of a small, circular RNA molecule with no protein coat that infect plants.

Prions

Infectious, misfolded proteins that cause degenerative diseases by inducing normal proteins to misfold.

Capsid

The protein shell that encloses the viral genome, providing protection and structural support.

Envelope

A lipid membrane that surrounds the capsid in some viruses, derived from the host cell membrane.

Positive (+) Strand

In RNA viruses, a (+) sense RNA genome that is directly translatable into viral proteins.

Negative (-) Strand

In RNA viruses, a (-) sense RNA genome that must be converted to (+) RNA before translation.

Episome

A genetic element (DNA or RNA) that can replicate independently or integrate into the host genome.