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Viruses may initially have adopted DNA as a way to resist RNA-degrading enzymes in the host cells. Hence, the contribution from such a new component may have been as significant as the contribution from chloroplasts or mitochondria. Following this hypothesis, archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes each obtained their DNA informational system from a ...
It is the first step of viral replication. Some viruses attach to the cell membrane of the host cell and inject its DNA or RNA into the host to initiate infection. Attachment to a host cell is often achieved by a virus attachment protein that extends from the protein shell (), of a virus.
Viruses are an established cause of cancer in humans and other species. Viral cancers occur only in a minority of infected persons (or animals). Cancer viruses come from a range of virus families, including both RNA and DNA viruses, and so there is no single type of "oncovirus" (an obsolete term originally used for acutely transforming ...
Some of these enzymes, called DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase, make new copies of DNA and RNA. A virus's polymerase enzymes are often much more efficient at making DNA and RNA than the equivalent enzymes of the host cells, [31] but viral RNA polymerase enzymes are error-prone, causing RNA viruses to mutate and form new strains. [32]
Structural model at atomic resolution of bacteriophage T4 [1] The structure of a typical myovirus bacteriophage Anatomy and infection cycle of bacteriophage T4.. A bacteriophage (/ b æ k ˈ t ɪər i oʊ f eɪ dʒ /), also known informally as a phage (/ ˈ f eɪ dʒ /), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea.
All living cells contain both DNA and RNA (except some cells such as mature red blood cells), while viruses contain either DNA or RNA, but usually not both. [15] The basic component of biological nucleic acids is the nucleotide, each of which contains a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a nucleobase. [16]
The virus's nucleic acid uses the host cell's metabolic machinery to make large amounts of viral components. [2] In DNA viruses, the DNA transcribes itself into messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that are then used to direct the cell's ribosomes. One of the first polypeptides to be translated destroys the host's DNA.
Unlike double-stranded DNA, RNA is usually a single-stranded molecule (ssRNA) [4] in many of its biological roles and consists of much shorter chains of nucleotides. [5] However, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) can form and (moreover) a single RNA molecule can, by complementary base pairing, form intrastrand double helixes, as in tRNA.