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To enter the cells, proteins on the surface of the virus interact with proteins of the cell. Attachment, or adsorption, occurs between the viral particle and the host cell membrane. A hole forms in the cell membrane, then the virus particle or its genetic contents are released into the host cell, where replication of the viral genome may commence.
Viruses may undergo two types of life cycles: the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle. In the lytic cycle, the virus introduces its genome into a host cell and initiates replication by hijacking the host's cellular machinery to make new copies of the virus. [12] In the lysogenic life cycle, the viral genome is incorporated into the host genome.
Virus latency (or viral latency) is the ability of a pathogenic virus to lie dormant within a cell, denoted as the lysogenic part of the viral life cycle. [1] A latent viral infection is a type of persistent viral infection which is distinguished from a chronic viral infection. Latency is the phase in certain viruses' life cycles in which ...
The lytic cycle (/ ˈ l ɪ t ɪ k / LIT-ik) is one of the two cycles of viral reproduction (referring to bacterial viruses or bacteriophages), the other being the lysogenic cycle. The lytic cycle results in the destruction of the infected cell and its membrane.
An example would include the ability of the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores, to remain in a dormant state within the human body. This is called latency [ 110 ] and is a characteristic of the herpes viruses, including Epstein–Barr virus, which causes glandular fever, and varicella zoster virus , which causes chickenpox and shingles .
The herpes virus can then exit this dormant stage and re-enter the lytic cycle, causing disease symptoms. Thus, while herpes viruses can enter both the lytic and lysogenic cycles, latency allows the virus to survive and evade detection by the immune system due to low viral gene expression. The model organism for studying lysogeny is the lambda ...
Some viruses can cause lifelong or chronic infections where the viruses continue to reproduce in the body despite the host's defence mechanisms. [52] This is common in hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections. People chronically infected with a virus are known as carriers. They serve as important reservoirs of the virus. [53] [54]
In other cases, the virus can cause systemic disease through a disseminated infection spread throughout the body. The predominant mode of viral dissemination occurs through the blood or lymphatic system, some of which include viruses responsible for chickenpox (varicella zoster virus), smallpox , HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). A minority ...