VIRUSES!!

What are viruses?

Viruses may be defined as acellular
organisms whose genomes consist of
nucleic acid, and which obligately replicate
inside host cells using host metabolic
machinery and ribosomes to form a pool of
components which assemble into particles
called VIRIONS, which serve to protect the
genome and to transfer it to other cells.

They are distinct from other so-called VIRUS-

LIKE AGENTS such as VIROIDS and
PLASMIDS and PRIONS
 What are viruses?
Other Definitions:
Viruses are acellular organisms with nucleic
acid genomes, which make particles in
infected cells to protect the genome and
transfer it between host cells

A virus is an infectious acellular entity

composed of compatible genomic
components derived from a pool of genetic
elements, which infects cells and makes
particles to transfer its genome between
cells
“Virocell”

Virion
 Bacterial cell = 1 micron
Lambda phage = 0.1 micron = 100 nm
Phage M13
Phage P22 Phage Phi29
 T4 coliphage
infecting E coli
 A “fascinating and
terrifying” memoir of
one woman’s
extraordinary effort
to save her husband’s
life-and the discovery
of a forgotten cure
(phage therapy) that
has the potential to
save millions more.
Human Adenovirus
type 36
 Human
Herpesvirus
HIV
Ebola
virus
Influenza
virus
Global Death Toll of the Disease:
Seasonal:
290 000 – 250 000 –
600 000 deaths 100 MILLION
per year deaths per
South Africa: pandemic
~12 000 deaths
per year
 …and it travelled
worldwide by ship, then
1st Wave by train…
2nd Wave

Excerpt from: “Influenza Virus.” iBooks, EP Rybicki & R Kightley 2015.

Viruses in the water
Viruses in the water The
rectangle
indicates
two
prokaryotes,
the ellipse
indicates
>25 virus-
like particles
and the
circle
indicates
one protist
 94%

5%

Suttle. 2007. Marine viruses – major players in the global ecosystem. Nature Reviews
5: 801-815

Important roles in the oceans

 Viromics
• “A compelling argument can be made that the
biggest reservoir of unidentified genetic
information is all around us, in the global
population of bacteriophages.
• It has been calculated that the total number of
phage particles in the biosphere is 1031. This
suggests that there are more phage particles
than all other biological forms added together”
Graham Hatfull microbiology today nov 08
 Viromics
Viruses in seawater 1:
• “Viruses exist wherever life is found. They are a
major cause of mortality, a driver of global
geochemical cycles and a reservoir of the
greatest genetic diversity on Earth. In the
oceans, viruses probably infect all living
things, from bacteria to whales. They affect
the form of available nutrients and the
termination of algal blooms”
Curtis Suttle
NATURE|Vol 437|15 September 2005|
doi:10.1038/nature04160
The length of 1031 100 nm phages
end-to-end:

106 million light years

Viruses:
The biological universe’s dark matter
“While screening DNA sequences in water samples
collected during Craig Venter's Global Ocean Sampling
Expedition, his team discovered seven more
photosynthesis genes coding for a complex of proteins
collectively named photosystem I. They believe the viral
complex has a unique shape that makes cyanophage
photosynthesis hyperefficient.”
Opening the box….
 430 million yrs:
plants + fungi on
land
570 million yrs

1 billion yrs?

1.5 billion yrs

…at least 320 000…