Viruses & Prions

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary related to viruses and prions, aiming to aid in understanding the key concepts from the lecture.

virus

submicroscopic, infectious agents that are nonliving pathogens.

viruses size

extremely small in size, typically ranging from 20-400nm

virology

the scientific study of viruses and viral diseases

infectivity

viruses can infect every living organism on the planet

bacteriophages (or phages)

virsues that infect bacteria

virion

a single, infecrtious virus particle; contains an exterior protective protein capsid

virion composition

composed of genetic material, which can be either dna or rna

capsid

a protein shell that packages and protects the viral genome

what are capsids made of?

made of smaller units called capsomeres

enveloped viruses

are characterized by having a lipid-based envelope that surrounds the capsid

naked (or noneveloped) virsues

lack an envelope, which results from the lysis (bursting) of the host cell

animal viruses

can be either eneveloped or naked, while bacteriophages are always naked sine they lyse host cells

viral spikes

spikes (or peplomers) protrude from either the viral capsid or envelope and are glycoprotein extensions that assist in virus attachment and entry into host cells

specific spikes associated with Influenze A include:

hemaggglutinin and neuraminidase