Part II, Viruses and their Allies

• Noncellular infectious agent

• Consists of protein wrapped around a
nucleic acid core
• Cannot reproduce itself; can only be
reproduced using a host cell
 Viral Body Plans
• Genetic material is
DNA or RNA
• Coat is protein

Complex virus
Helical virus Polyhedral virus (bacteriophage)
 Enveloped Virus (HIV)

lipid envelope; proteins span

the envelope, line its inner
surface, spike out above it

viral coat
(proteins)
Viral Multiplication - Basic Steps
• Virus attaches to host cell
• Whole virus or genetic material enters host
• Viral DNA or RNA directs host to make viral
genetic material and protein
• Viral nucleic acids and proteins are
assembled
• New viral particles are released from cell
Lytic Pathway

Refer to text for Lysis Assembly

graphic

Assembly

Virus injects
genetic material

Production of
viral components
 Lysogenic
Pathway
(Refer to text
forLatent
graphic)
period
extends the
cycle

Viral DNA
Viral material
becomes Viral material
passed on
integrated
part of host
chromosome
for a time
 Video: Virus Reproduction
• http://www.med.sc.edu:85/movies/phageh.mov
Replication of
an
Enveloped
Virus Transcription Translation
of viral genes
DNA replication
Proteins

Refer to text
for graphic. Assembly
 Answer 14
• 14. Viruses are composed of an outer
protein coat with an interior core of nucleic
acid.
 Answer 15
• 15. HIV is a(n) enveloped (or RNA) virus.
 Answer 16
• 16. Identify this type of virus. helical
 Answer 17
• 17. Identify this type of virus. complex
 Answer 18
• 18. Name the two modes of viral
replication. Lytic and lysogenic
 Question 19
• 19. Of the two modes which one may have
a long “latent” (resting) period?
 Answer 19
• 19. Of the two modes which one may have
a long “latent” (resting) period?

• lysogenic
 Food and Water Borne Viruses

• Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses

• Polio
• hepatitis A (HA)
• Massive virus discovered in water
tower
 Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses
• small round structured viruses (SRSVs)
• strand RNA
• single structural protein
• viral gastroenteritis
• self-limiting, mild, and characterized by
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal
pain.
 Massive Virus Discovered in
Water Tower
“The largest virus ever discovered has
been found in a water-cooling tower in
Bradford, England. It was lurking inside
single-celled organisms called amoebae,
but its discoverers believe that it may also
be capable of infecting humans. “

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993559
 Photo from the New Scientist
girth of 400 nanometers (visible with a good
light microscope) 900 genes
 Polio
• Small water-food borne RNA virus
• In about 1% of the infected population, the
virus attacks and kills motor neurons
• This results in various degrees of paralysis

http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/2/2003/04/29/story004.html
 Polio’s Effects

http://cha.state.md.us/edcp/html/polio.html http://www.bret.org.uk/nec2.htm
 Hepatitis A (HA) Symptoms

• fatigue
• jaundice
• abdominal pain
• loss of appetite
• nausea
• diarrhea
• fever
 Persons at Risk
• Household contacts of infected persons
• Sex contacts of infected persons
• Persons, especially children, living in areas with
increased rates of hepatitis A during the baseline
period from 1987-1997.
• Persons traveling to countries where hepatitis A
is common
• Men who have sex with men
• Injecting and non-injecting drug users
 Average reported cases of hepatitis A
per 100,000 population*, 1987-1997

Red> 20
The HA World
 TRANSMISSION
• “HAV is found in the stool (feces) of
persons with hepatitis A. 
• HAV is usually spread from person to
person by putting something in the mouth
(even though it may look clean) that has
been contaminated with the stool of a
person with hepatitis A. ”
 Prevention
• “Hepatitis A vaccine is the best protection.
• Short-term protection against hepatitis A is
available from immune globulin. It can be given
before and within 2 weeks after coming in
contact with HAV. 
• Always wash your hands with soap and water
after using the bathroom, changing a diaper, and
before preparing and eating food.”
 Vaccination
• “Travelers to areas with increased rates of
hepatitis A
• Men who have sex with men
• Injecting and non-injecting drug users
• Persons with clotting-factor disorders (e.g.
hemophilia)
• Persons with chronic liver disease
• Children living in areas with increased rates of
hepatitis A during the baseline period from 1987-
1997.”

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/a/fact.htm
 Outback chain acquires Chi-
Chi's

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Chi-Chi's, the chain of

Mexican restaurants, may have served its last
chimichanga.
    Outback Steakhouse Inc. this week closed on
its $42.5 million deal for the rights to 76
restaurants in the Chi-Chi's chain, which was
beleaguered by bankruptcy and a hepatitis
outbreak.

http://www.washtimes.com/business/20040922-091157-9257r.htm
 Cervical Cancer and Human
Papilloma Virus
• “Q:  I was surprised recently to learn that cancer
of the cervix may be caused by a virus. I had
never heard this before and would like more
information.

• A:  Cancer of the cervix should probably be

reclassified as a sexually transmitted disease.
More than 95% of all cases can be attributed to
three types of human papilloma virus (HPV).
This is the virus that causes genital warts. “
• (From:
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/951329620.html
Cervical Cancer and HPV

Yes, cervical cancer is infectious.

 Answer 20
• 20. Hepatitis A infects which organ?

• liver
 Answer 21
• 21. Which water born virus may attack and
kill motor neurons (nerves)?

• polio
 Viroids

• Smaller than viruses

• Strands or circles of RNA
• No protein-coding genes
• No protein coat
• Cause many plant diseases
 PSTV
• Most known viroids cause diseases in
plants.
• The first viroid was discovered in 1971, by
Diener. It's called the potato spindle tuber
virus (PSTV),
• Contains a single loop of RNA
• Relies wholly on enzymes all ready in the
host cell

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/subcellular.html#Viroids
 “Vegetable MD Online”
• Cornell University Ag School

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Images/Potatoes/PotatoViruses/PotatoVirusfs1.jpg
 Prions
• Small proteins
• Linked to human diseases
– Kuru
– Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
• Animal diseases
– Scrapie in sheep
– Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(mad cow disease)
 BSE (Mad Cow Disease)
There is a disease similar to BSE called
Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) that is
found in people.
 Fore tribes of Papua, New
Guinea….Kuru…. “the trembling
with
• “The real breakthrough fear” Creutzfeldt-
for understanding
Jakob disease occurred in 1957 with the discovery of a
curious degenerative brain disease of cannibals. Certain
Fore tribes of Papua, New Guinea were inflicted with a
disease called Kuru - the trembling with fear. This
disease manifested itself as a fatal disease with an onset
and duration that lasted usually 1 year. To date there
have been 2500+ cases reported in these relatively small
villages with an occurrence of at least 1% of the
population. It was prevalent in women and children but
rarely affected adult males. The terminal stage of this
brain disease was marked by total dementia, muteness,
inability to move, ataxia ( jerkiness of the muscles ),
dysarthria, dysphagia and death.”

http://psyweb.com/Mdisord/jsp/CJdisease.jsp
 Kuru was determined to be linked
to the ritual cannibalism….
• “Kuru was determined to be linked to the ritual
cannibalism that was practiced by these tribes.
The brains of the elders were ritually prepared
and eaten by the women and children, but
seldom by the men. This endocannibalism was
outlawed by the authorities of New Guinea and
now the disease is slowly disappearing. There
are still cases appearing due to the extreme
incubation periods of the disease -exceeding 30
years in some instances.”

http://psyweb.com/Mdisord/jsp/CJdisease.jsp
 Warnings Sent to Emory Brain
Patients
• ATLANTA Oct. 1, 2004 — Emory University
officials sent warning letters to more than 500
surgery patients at the school's medical center
after a brain surgery patient tested positive for a
fatal disease similar to the human version of
mad cow disease. Chances of infection are very
low, said Dr. William Bornstein, chief quality
officer for Emory Healthcare. "By using modern
sterilization, this has never been transmitted," he
said.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/ap20041001_1791.html
 Answer 22
• 22. Viroids are “naked” strands or circles
of RNA.
 Answer 23
• 23. Viroids are known to only infect plants.
 Answer 24
• 24. Prions are composed exclusively of
proteins.
 Answer 25
• 25. Mad cow disease is a disease that is
caused by a prion. It is found in farm
animals and there is a human form.
The End of Part II