Ogan Gurel, MD

Biology 301
Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

Biology 301
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Spring 2002

Lecture # 10: Prokaryotic Gene Expression I

Viruses
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

Overall outline
 Introduction to virology
 Bacteriophages
 Animal viruses
 Prions
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

Introduction to Viruses
 Size comparisons
 Discovery of viruses
 Virus structure
 Viral structure (detail)
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Size comparisons
Roosevelt University
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Discovery of viruses
Roosevelt University

• 1883: A. Mayer demonstrated that

Tobacco Mosaic Virus the disease was contagious and
proposed that the infectious agent
was an unusually small bacterium not
observable under the light
microscope.
• 1890’s: D. Ivanowsky proposed that
the disease was caused by a
bacterium that was either too small
to be trapped by a filter or that
produced a filterable toxin.
• 1897: M. Beijerinck proposed that
the disease was caused by a
reproducing particle much smaller
and simpler than a bacterium.
• 1935: W.M. Stanley crystallized the
infectious particle now known as
tobacco mosaic virus (TMV).
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Virus structure
Roosevelt University

Three possible patterns

of
viral genome replication
• DNA -> DNA
• RNA -> RNA
(with RNA replicase)
• RNA -> DNA -> RNA
(with reverse
transcriptase)
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Viral structure (detail)

Roosevelt University
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

Bacteriophages
 Bacteriophages
 Hershey-Chase experiment revisited
 Simplified virus life cycle
 A simplified viral reproductive cycle
 The lytic cycle of phage T4
 The lysogenic and lytic reproductive cycles of phage
lambda
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Bacteriophages
Roosevelt University

Bacteriophages are viruses that

specifically infect bacteria.
Though not medically important,
they have served as a useful
experimental system for the
study of basic genetic and
biochemical mechanisms.
 Ogan Gurel, MD

Hershey-Chase experiment Biology 301

Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

revisited
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Simplified virus life cycle

Roosevelt University

• Several steps are involved in

viral infection and propagation.
• The adsorption step
determines tissue specificity
and is also the point at which
many antibodies neutralize viral
infection.
• Upon entering the host cell
infection can lead to several
different outcomes: lysis
(adenovirus, influenza,
poliovirus), persistence
(hepatitis B, Epstein-Barr virus)
latency (herpesvirus) or
transformation (hepatitis B,
Epstein-Barr)
 Ogan Gurel, MD

A simplified viral reproductive Biology 301

Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

cycle
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

The lytic cycle of phage T4

Roosevelt University
The lysogenic and lytic
Ogan Gurel, MD

reproductive cycles of phage Biology 301

Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

lambda
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

Animal viruses
 Classes of animal viruses
 The reproductive cycle of an enveloped retrovirus virus
 HIV, a retrovirus
 HIV infection
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Classes of animal viruses

Roosevelt University
 Ogan Gurel, MD

The reproductive cycle of an Biology 301

Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

enveloped retrovirus virus

(Reverse transcription)
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

HIV, a retrovirus
Roosevelt University
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

HIV infection
Roosevelt University

1.  HIV specifically infects T­helper cells.  The Epstein­Barr virus specifically infects B­cells.  What accounts for this specificity?
2.  The HIV envelope contains within it two embedded membrane proteins: gp120 and gp41.  What are the functions of each?
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10
Roosevelt University

Prions
 Prions defined
 Prion replication
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Prions defined
Roosevelt University

• Prions are small, proteinaceous

infectious particles that resist
inactivation by procedures which
affect nucleic acids.
• To date, no detectable nucleic
acids of any kind and no virus-
like particles have been
associated with prions.
• Prions cause scrapie and other
spongiform encephalopathies of
animals and humans
 Ogan Gurel, MD
Biology 301
Lecture # 10

Prion replication
Roosevelt University