By;

Meenakshi Bohra
M.Sc Biotech(Prev.)
http://powerpointpresentationon.blogspot.com
 Discovery of viruses
• In 1884 C. Chamberland, in
Pasteur's lab, discovered that if
you passed a liquid containing
bacteria through an unglazed
PORCELAIN tube, the bacteria
were COMPLETELY
RETAINED and the solution
that passed through (the
FILTRATE) was sterile.
• In1892 D. IWANOWSKI applied
this test to a filtrate of plants
suffering from TOBACCO
MOSAIC DISEASE with
shocking results; the filtrate Filtration of a mixture of bacteria and
was FULLY CAPABLE of viruses. If a mixture of viruses and bacteria are
producing the ORIGINAL filtered through a bacterial-proof filter (red), the
DISEASE in new hosts. viruses will pass through into the filtrate in the
flask. Filtered beer is produced by a similar
• When repeated, filtrations produced the same
results and nothing could be seen in the
filtrates using the most powerful microscopes,
nor could anything be cultivated from the
filtrates, Iwanowski and associates concluded
that they had discovered a new pathogenic
life-form which they called by the
unimaginative, but functional, name of
"FILTERABLE VIRUS".
“Viruses form the borderline between
living and non-living”.
• Most "plant" virologists, and those who
study bacteriophages consider them non-
living as they do not meet all the criteria of
the generally accepted definition of life.
Whereas most "animal" virologists consider
them as living because they have genes
and evolve by natural selection.
 Structure
• A fully assembled infectious virus
is called a virion.
• The simplest virions consist of
two basic components: nucleic
acid (single- or double-stranded
RNA or DNA) and a protein coat,
the capsid, which functions as a
shell to protect the viral genome
from nucleases and which during
infection attaches the virion to
specific receptors exposed on the
prospective host cell.
Structure of bacteriophage virus
 Structure
• Capsids are formed as single or
double protein shells and
consist of only one or a few
structural protein .Self assembly
of virus capsids follows two
basic patterns: helical
symmetry, in which the protein
subunits and the nucleic acid
are arranged in a helix, and
icosahedral symmetry, in which
the protein subunits assemble
into a symmetric shell that
covers the nucleic acid-
containing core. Structure of capsid
• Proteins associated with nucleic
acid are known as
nucleoproteins, and the
 Classification
• They do not fit easily into any of the domains of
biological classification and therefore
classification begins at the family rank. However,
the domain name of Acytota (without cells) has
been suggested. This would place viruses on a
par with the other domains of Eubacteria,
Archaea, and Eukarya.
 Classification
Baltimore classification
• Baltimore classification is a classification system which places
viruses into one of seven groups depending on a combination of
their nucleic acid (DNA or RNA), strandedness (single-stranded
or double-stranded), and method of replication.. Viruses can be
placed in one of the seven following groups:
• Group I: double-stranded DNA viruses
• Group II: single-stranded DNA viruses
• Group III: double-stranded RNA viruses
• Group IV: positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses
• Group V: negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses
• Group VI: reverse transcribing Diploid single-stranded RNA
viruses
• Group VII: reverse transcribing Circular double-stranded DNA
viruses
 Baltimore classification
Group Contains
dsDNA viruses
1. I
for eg.Adenoviruses, Herpesviruses, Poxviruses
ssDNA viruses
2 II
(e.g. Parvoviruses)
dsRNA viruses
3 III
(e.g. Reoviruses)
(+)ssRNA viruses
4 IV
(e.g. Picornaviruses, Togaviruses)

(-)ssRNA viruses
5V
(e.g. Orthomyxoviruses, Rhabdoviruses)

ssRNA-RT viruses
6 VI
(e.g. Retroviruses)
dsDNA-RT viruses
7 VII
(e.g. Hepadnaviruses)

The Baltimore classification

 Classification on basis of
nucleic acid
DNA
•viruses
A DNA virus is a virus belonging to either Group I or
Group II of the Baltimore classification system for
viruses. It will therefore possess DNA as its genetic
material and replicate using a DNA-dependent DNA
polymerase. The nucleic acid is usually double-stranded
DNA (dsDNA) but may also be single-stranded DNA
(ssDNA). Single-stranded DNA is usually expanded to
double-stranded in infected cells. Although Group VII
viruses such as hepatitis B contain a DNA genome, they
are not considered DNA viruses according to the
Baltimore classification, but rather reverse transcribing
viruses because they replicate through an RNA
RNA viruses
• An RNA virus is a virus which belongs to either Group
III, Group IV or Group V of the Baltimore classification
system of classifying viruses. As such, they possess
ribonucleic acid (RNA) as their genetic material and do
not replicate using a DNA intermediate. The nucleic
acid is usually single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) but can
occasionally be double-stranded RNA (dsRNA).Notable
human pathogenic RNA viruses include SARS,
Influenza and Hepatitis C viruses.
Double-stranded RNA viruses
• The double-stranded (ds)RNA viruses represent a
diverse group of viruses that vary widely in host range
(humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria), genome
segment number (one to twelve), and virion organization
(capsid layers). Members of this group include the
rotaviruses, renowned globally as the commonest cause
of gastroenteritis in young children, and bluetongue
virus an economically important pathogen of cattle and
sheep.
Positive and Negative strand RNA
viruses
Animal RNA viruses can be placed into about different groups depending
on their mode of replication.
• Positive-sense viruses have their genome directly utilized as if it were
mRNA, producing a single protein which is modified by host and viral
proteins to form the various proteins needed for replication. One of
these includes RNA replicase, which copies the viral RNA to form a
double-stranded replicative form, in turn this directs the formation of
new virions.
• Negative-sense viruses must have their genome copied by an RNA
polymerase or transcriptase to form positive-sense RNA. This means
that the virus must bring along with it the RNA-dependent RNA
polymerase enzyme. The positive-sense RNA molecule then acts as
viral mRNA, which is translated into proteins by the host ribosomes.
The resultant protein goes on to direct the synthesis of new virions,
such as capsid proteins and RNA replicase, which is used to produce
 Replication of Viruses

Replication cycle of a temperate phage. In the lysogenic pathway, the phage

DNA is integrated as a prophage into the host genome, and replicated along with it. Upon
induction by an appropriate stimulus, the phage DNA is removed and enters a lytic cycle
Bacterial viruses
• Bacteriophages, have played a
unique role in viral biology. They
are perhaps the best understood
viruses, yet at the same time, their
structure can be extraordinarily
complex. The use of
bacteriophages played a
prominent role in elucidating that
DNA in viruses can reproduce
through two mechanisms: the lytic
cycle and the lysogenic cycle.
• Perhaps the best understood of all
viral replication cycles are those of
a class of bacteriophages which
infect E. coli, known as the T-even
phages. These are large, complex Bacteriophages
viruses, with a characteristic head
and tail structure.
Plant Viruses
• Plant viruses are also known as
"PHYTOPHAGINAE". They are
usually rod shaped. They
contain nucleic acid in the form
of RNA. .
• Examples of plant viruses
cowpea mosaic virus – an
icosahedral member of the
Comovirus family
potato X virus - a rod-shaped
member of the Potexvirus family
• Yellow mosaic caused by
Lettuce mosaic virus.
• Fruit distortion on eggplant fruit
caused by Tomato bushy stunt
virus.
• Bark scaling caused by Citrus
 Animal Viruses
• Viruses that infect
humans ,and other
animals include double-
stranded RNA (e.g.
Rotavirus), single-
stranded RNA (e.g.
Influenza virus), single-
stranded DNA (e.g.
Parvovirus B19) and
double-stranded DNA
(Herpes virus). a) Marburg virus b) Ebola virus
• Marburg virus and Ebola c) Influenza virus d) Parvovirus

virus causes the viral

haemmorrhagic fever.
 Tumour Viruses
• Viruses are involved in cancers because they can either
carry a copy of one of these genes or can alter
expression of the cell's copy of one of these genes.
• There are two classes of tumor viruses:
• DNA tumor viruses
• RNA tumor viruses, the latter also being referred to as
RETROVIRUSES.
 Tumour Viruses
• These two classes have very different ways of
reproducing themselves but they often have one
aspect of their life cycle in common: the ability to
integrate their own genome into that of the host
cell. Such integration is not, however, a pre-
requisite for tumor formation. If a virus takes up
residence in a cell and alters the properties of
that cell, the cell is said to be transformed.
• A virus may cause cancer in two ways: It may
carry an oncogene into a cell or it may activate a
cellular proto-oncogene.
 Herpes Virus
• Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are
two strains of the herpes virus family, herpesviridae,
which cause extremely painful infections in humans
.They are also called Human Herpes Virus 1 and 2
(HHV-1 and HHV-2).
 Herpes Virus
• The Herpes simplex virus first enters the lytic
cycle after infecting a human, then the lysogenic
cycle before travelling to the nervous system
where it resides in the nerve fibers as an
episomal element. After a long period of time
(months to years) in a latent stage, the herpes
virus is often reactivated to the lytic stage,
during which it may cause disease symptoms
similar to those experienced during the initial
infection. An infection is marked by watery
blisters in the skin or mucous membranes (such
as the mouth or lips) or on the genitals.Lesions
 Viroids
• In 1971, Theodor Diener proposed the name viroid to
describe a newly discovered pathogen of potatoes.
• Viroids are many times smaller than the smallest virus,
and consist solely of a small circle of ssRNA containing
some 300–400 nucleotide bases and no protein coat.
• Viruses may be referred to often as the smallest
infectious things. These agents of plant disease lack
even a viral coat and are merely small strings of plain, or
"naked," RNA. They are believed to be a more primitive
version of ordinary viruses.
• Enzymes in the host’s nucleus are used to replicate the
RNA, which does not appear to be translated into
protein.
• Viroids have only been found in plants, where they
 Prions
• A decade after the discovery of viroids, Stanley
Prusiner made the startling claim that scrapie, a
neurodegenerative disease of sheep, was caused by a
self-replicating agent composed solely of protein.
• Prions are not even DNA or RNA, but simply proteins.
They are thought to be misshapen or abnormal
versions of proteins normally found in animals or
people. When a prion comes into contact with the
normal version of the protein and causes the normal
protein to change shape and become a prion, too
• Prions are blamed for scrapie in sheep, and bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (“Mad Cow Disease”) in