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Viral replication is the formation of biological viruses during the infection process in the target host cells. Viruses must first get into the cell before viral replication can occur. Through the generation of abundant copies of its genome and packaging these copies, the virus continues infecting new hosts. Replication between viruses is ...
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.
Prior to entry, a virus must attach to a host cell. Attachment is achieved when specific proteins on the viral capsid or viral envelope bind to specific proteins called receptor proteins on the cell membrane of the target cell. A virus must now enter the cell, which is covered by a phospholipid bilayer, a cell's natural barrier to the outside ...
The virus's nucleic acid uses the host cell's metabolic machinery to make large amounts of viral components. [ 2 ] In the case of DNA viruses, the DNA transcribes itself into messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that are then used to direct the cell's ribosomes.
Viral shedding is the expulsion and release of virus progeny following successful reproduction during a host cell infection. Once replication has been completed and the host cell is exhausted of all resources in making viral progeny, the viruses may begin to leave the cell by several methods.
In some species of RNA virus, the genes are not on a continuous molecule of RNA, but are separated. The influenza virus, for example, has eight separate genes made of RNA. When two different strains of influenza virus infect the same cell, these genes can mix and produce new strains of the virus in a process called reassortment. [33]
Viral genes are expressed through the use of the host cell's replication machinery; therefore, many viral genes have promoters that support binding of many transcription factors found naturally in the host cells. These transcription factors along with the virus' own proteins can repress or activate genes from both the virus and the host cell's ...
Viruses have evolved specialized molecular mechanisms to transport their genomes into infected hosts, a process termed transduction. This capability has been exploited for use as viral vectors, which may integrate their genetic cargo—the transgene —into the host genome, although non-integrative vectors are also commonly used.