VIRUS

PRESENT BY :
 WHAT IS VIRUS
From the Latin mean – TOXIN or POISON

Biological meaning - a submicroscopic

infectious agent that is unable to grow or
reproduce outside a host cell.

An organism that be on both sides of living

and the nonliving
 STRUCTURE
Viruses are composed of two fundamental units,
a protein coat and a nucleic acid core.

The protein coat is termed a capsid and is

composed of subunits called capsomeres.

The nucleic acid may be either RNA or DNA and

can be either single-stranded, double-stranded,
or partially double-stranded.
 Parts of virus

genes
Protein
coat

Envelop
e of fat
 Shape of virus

Simple helical & icosahedral Complex structure

 ICOSAHEDRAL
• Electron micrograph of icosahedral viruses (
adenovirus )
Most animal viruses are icosahedral or near-
spherical

Regular icosahedron is the optimum way of

forming a closed shell from identical sub-units.

Minimum number of identical capsomers required -

twelve, each composed of five identical sub-units.

Many viruses, such as rotavirus, have more than

twelve capsomers and appear spherical but they retain
this symmetry.

Capsomers at the apices are surrounded by five other

capsomers and are called pentons.

Capsomers on the triangular faces are surround by six

others and are call hexons
COMPLEX STRUCTURE
possess a capsid which is neither purely helical,

nor purely icosahedral, and which may possess

extra structures such as protein tails or a
complex outer wall.

Some bacteriophages have a complex

structure consisting of an icosahedral head
bound to a helical tail which may have a
hexagonal base plate with protruding protein
tail fibres.
 Ways of spead
plant

animal

others
 Viruses & Human

Common ●
Chicken Pox
Diseases
●
Common Cold

●
Ebola
Serious ●
AIDS
●
Avian Influenza
Diseases ●
Polio
 Chicken Pox
• The period between infection and the onset of signs
(incubation period) is typically 10 to 14 days. The eruption
was preceded by a fever for a few days with chills, headache,
nausea…
• The rash is characterized by the appearance of red spots on
the skin, becoming blisters, then pustules before forming a
crust.
• The lesions are more frequent in the face and palms. The
injury is rarely hemorrhagic (bleeding), but in this case
serious.
 Common Cold
• Acute Viral Rhinopharyngitis or acute coryza, usually known as the
common cold.
• Viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system.
• Sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, ‘pink eye’, muscle
aches, headches and loss of appetite.
• Cause:
1. Lack of sleep has been associated with the common cold. Those
who sleep less than 7 hours per night were three times more
likely to develop an infection when exposed to a rhinovirus when
compared to those who sleep more than 8 hours per night.
2. Exposure to cold weather
 Ebola
• Filoviruses
• The fever Ebola haemorrhagic fever is a devastating that
attacks humans and primates.
• The transmission by direct contact with body fluids.
• The risk of spread are very high, especially if the sterilization
equipment is not assured.
• caused the death.
 AIDS
• The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, better known by
its acronym AIDS or AIDS (which comes from English Acquired
ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome, AIDS
• AIDS is the last stage of infection by this virus and ends with
the death of the body infected as a result of opportunistic
diseases.
• The best known virus:
1. human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infecting humans.
2. VIS infecting monkeys
3. VIF for the cat.
• Three modes of transmission have been observed:
1. through sexual contact
2. through blood
3. from mother to child
• Can only be delay by treatment.

• Back
 Avian Influenza
• Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, means a viral disease
similar to the flu due to a variant of Influenza A virus, which
infects wild birds or domestic.
• This disease is transmitted between birds and more rarely in
mammals (including pork, which is both receptive to the avian
influenza viruses and human), but it is usually difficult
transmissible to humans.
 Polio
• Polioviruslives in the throat and intestinal tract of infected
persons.
• most common in infants and young children.
• The polio virus attacks the nerve cells that control muscle
movements.
• Headache, tiredness, fever, stiff neck and back, and muscle
pain.
• virus invades nerves in the brain and causes paralysis of the
muscles used in swallowing and breathing - paralysis of the
arms, legs, or trunk.
• Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)
- OPV protects vaccinated persons directly
• Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV).
- given by injection
 Viruses & Plant
• a rod-like appearance
• Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is an RNA virus that infects
plants.
• TMV is a thermo stable virus. On a dried leaf, it can withstand
up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (50 °C) for 30 minutes.

Electron micrograph of TMV particles stained

to enhance visibility at 160,000x magnification.
• symptom of this virus disease is a light green coloration
between the veins of young leaves.
• Mosaic does not result in plant death, but if infection occurs
early in the season, plants are stunted.
• Lower leaves are subjected to “mosaic burn” especially during
periods of hot and dry weather
• Infected leaves may be crinkled, puckered, or enlongated
• Leads to severe crop losses.