Spherical
ACELLULAR MICROBES Complex combination – many shapes
Viruses – non-living organism; very small; simple
structure
• Virions – complete virus; obligate
intracellular microorganism → needs a host
v Size: 10-300nm in diameter
Note: No type of organism is safe from viral infxn.
Oncogenic Viruses – causes a specific type of
cancer.
PROPERTIES OF VIRUSES
o Possess either DNA or RNA
o Unable to replicate on their own; their
replication is directed by the viral nucleic
acid once it has been introduced into a host
cell.
o Do not divide by binary fission, mitosis and
meiosis.
o They lack genes and enzymes necessary for
energy production.
o Depend on host cell, ribosomes, metabolites
of the host cell.
• Capsid – building blocks
• Capsomere – many small protein units that
composes a capsid.
VIRAL CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO
CHARACTERISTICS
o Type of genetic material (DNA or RNA)
o Shape of capsid (single or double stranded)
o Negative or positive sense
o Number of capsomeres
o Size of the capsid
o Presence or absence of the envelope
o Type of hosts that it infects
o Type of disease it produces
o Target cell
o Immunologic or antigenic properties
VIRAL MORPHOLOGY
Polyhedral – many sided; 20 sides (icosahedrons)
Helical – coiled tubes
Bullet Shaped
 
ORIGIN OF VIRUSES
Coevolution Theory – viruses originated in the
“primordial soup” and coevolved with bacteria and
archaea.
Retrograde Evolution Theory – viruses evolved
from free living prokaryotes that invaded other
living organism, and gradually lost functions that
were provided by the host cell. This theory has a
little support.
Escaped Gene Theory – viruses are piece of host
cell RNA or DNA that have escaped from living
cells and are no longer under cellular control.
Among the three theories, this is the most widely
accepted explanation for the origin of viruses.
TYPES OF VIRUSES
i. Bacteriophages – bacteria can also be
affected by viruses; obligate intracellular
pathogens; categorized according to their
shape;
• Icosahedron – an almost spherical
shape with 20 triangular facets; the
smallest icosahedron are about 20nm in
diameter.
• Filamentous – long tubes formed by
capsid proteins assembled into helical
structure; can be about 900 nm long.
• Complex – icosahedral heads attached
to helical tails; they may also possess
base plates and tail fibers.
Temperate bacteriophages – do not immediately
initiate lytic cycle.
Virulent bacteriophages - also known as “lytic
cycle”
Ø Steps in Lytic Cycle:
1. Attachment – virus attaches to the
bacteria.
2. Penetration – phages injects its DNA
into the bacterial cell.
3. Biosynthesis – phages egenes are
expressed; resulting into production.
YAMBAO, CHANNELA ANNE M.
 4. Assembly – viral pieces are assembled
to produce complete viral particles.
5. Release – host cell bursts open and all
the new virions.
ii. Animal Viruses – viruses that infect
humans and animals.
• Steps on multiplication of animal
virus:
1. Attachment – viruses attaches to
a protein on the surface of the
host cell.
2. Penetration – the entire virus
enters the host cell.
3. Uncoating – The viral nucleic
acid escapes the capsid.
4. Biosynthesis – viral genes are
expressed; resulting to the
production of pieces or parts of
viruses.
5. Assembly – the viral pieces or
parts are assembled to create
complete virions.
6. Release – the complete virions
escapes from the host cell by
lysis or budding.
iii. Oncogenic Viruses – viruses that can
cause cancer.
• Epstein-Barr virus – a type of
herpes virus causes infectious
mononucleosis.
• Hepa B and C – liver cancer
• Herpes virus – caposiscarcinoma →
cancer of connective tissue
• Human Papillomavirus – cervical
cancer; other parts of genital tract
• T-lymphotropic Virus Type I – T-
cell leukemia
iv. Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) – the cause of AIDS; able to
attack and invade cells; destroys T-cells
 
→ for immune system functioning;
invades macrophages.
v. Mimi virus- extremely large double
stranded DNA that has been recovered
from amebas; mimics bacteria; contains
some RNA molecules; maybe caused of
some human pneumonia.
vi. Mega virus – biggest virus; double
stranded DNA virus; water sample 2010
at CHILE; can be seen with naked eye.
vii. Viroids – short, naked fragments of
single stranded RNA; can interfere with
metabolism of plant cells. (ex. Potato
spindle tuber; coconut palms; tomatoes)
viii. Prions – small infectious proteins that
causes fatal neurologic diseases in
animals (ex. Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy “Mad Cow Disease” - a
fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle
that causes a spongy degeneration)
• Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease – resulting
from eating prion-infected beef.
v Scrapie – affects nervous system of
sheep and goat
v Kuru – contaminated human brain
in New Guinea (cannibalism)
Latent and Persistent Viral Infections – dorsal
root dormant in ganglia (ex. Chicken pox →
shingles)
YAMBAO, CHANNELA ANNE M.