TR3.5

Types of Viruses

Houjun Liu 2021-09-27 Mon 12:00

1 Types of Viruses

1.1 Categorizing based on infection target

1.1.1 Prokarotic infecting viruses

  • Variety of shapes
  • Complex and prolate shapes
  • Has, sometimes complex shapes! a la this image
  • Usually transmits using the DNA

1.1.2 Eukarotic infecting viruses

  • Much more "boring" in terms of shape
  • Icosahedral/spherecial outside
  • Enveloped constructions => envelope protein layer outside, spherical inside
  • Helical/Cylindrical/Bullet shapes, too!
  • Often single patterns assemble together to create symmetric shape that creates the whole of the virus
  • Usually transmits using the RNA

1.2 Categorizing based on genetic code

1.2.1 DNA Viruses

  • "Legacy support" viruses
  • DNA viruses are "less complex", in that as long as they are able to get into the nucleaus, the rest would just be the body's work automatically.
  • They are clunkier, more stable, and hence harder to KBhBIO101ViralGeneticModulationMutation, which is good for you but bad for the virus

1.2.2 RNA Viruses

  • RNA viruses are considered to be the "next-gen" viruses
  • They infect much more easily => do not require the process of transcription
  • Contain more intricate processes to be able to interact with the cell properly

Screen Shot 2020-11-02 at 2.48.22 PM.png

Figure 1: Screen Shot 2020-11-02 at 2.48.22 PM.png