Theme 8: Morphology of

human viruses and

bacteriophages
Structure of virion
Naked virus

Enveloped virus
Symmetry of nucleocapsids
• Cubical symmetry

• Helical symmetry
 Main Families of Human Viruses
Families Viruses Nucleic Acid Symmetry Envelope

RNA Viruses

Picornaviridae Polyo-, hepatitis A SS+ Icosaedral No

Togaviridae Rubella SS+ Icosaedral Yes

Flaviiviridae Hepatitis C, G SS+ Icosaedral No

Coronaviridae Coronaviruses SS+ Helical Yes

Retroviridae HIV SS+ Helical/Icosaedral** Yes

Bunyaviridae Congo-Crimian hemorrhagic fever SS- Helical Yes

Arenaviridae Lassa SS- Helical Yes

Orthomyxoviridae Influenza SS- Helical Yes

Paramyxoviridae Parainfluenza, measles, mumps SS- Helical Yes

Rhabdoviridae Rabiers SS- Helical Yes

Reoviridae Reoviruses DS- Icosaedral No

Flaviviridae Yellow fever SS+ Icosaedral Yes

DNA Viruses

Parvoviridae Parvoviruses SS Icosaedral No

Papovaviridae Papovaviruses DS Icosaedral No

Adenoviridae Adenoviruses DS Icosaedral No

Herpesviridae Herpes simplex, chicken pox DS Icosaedral Yes

Poxviridae Small pox DS Complex Yes

Hepadnaviridae Hepatitis B DS (partial) Icosaedral Yes

Hepatitis D virus* Genus Deltavirus

CLASSIFICATION AND MORPHOLOGY OF VIRUSES
Structure of bacteriophage
• Lytic
replication
cycle of
bacteriophage
SPECIALISED TRANSDUCTION
• Lytic phage
reproduction
and
lysogenization