General Properties of Viruses

and Classification of Viruses of

Medical Importance
Dr Abayomi S.A
Consultant Clinical Microbiologist
LAUTECH Teaching Hospital
Ogbomoso, Oyo State
Outline
 Introduction
 History of virology
 General properties of viruses
 Structure of viruses
 Classification of viruses
 Conclusion
Introduction
 There are many infections that were attributed to being caused by
bacteria but there were still a large number that the cause was not
known until it was realized that the agent was viruses, which are
smaller than bacteria

 A virus is a genetic entity composed of DNA/RNA having an

intracellular existence and using the biochemical machinery of its
host cells in its replication.

 They are tiny infectious agents which are causative agents of some of
the most devastating diseases known by humans. The recent
coronavirus outbreak which caused havoc in the majority of the
countries of the world gives evidence of this fact.

 Virology is the study of viral nature, relationship between viruses and

host
History of virology
 Over 100 years ago (end of 19th century), germ
theory was established: states that micro-
organisms known as ‘pathogens’ can lead to
diseases.

 Agents of disease could be seen with microscope,

cultivated on nutrient media, and can be retained
by filters.

 Viruses have been in existence for many years yet

very little is known about their nature until recently
History
 Several accounts from the 1500s
showed that small pox was
endemic in China. Thus
variolation was developed when it
was observed that survivors of
smallpox outbreaks were
protected from subsequent
infection.

 Variolization involved inhalation

of dried crust from smallpox
lesion like snuff, or inoculation of
pus from lesion into a scratch on
forearm of a child.

 Lady Wortley Montagu (18th

century)- aristocrat
History
 Edward Jenner (1978)- challenged
by a girls claim that she couldn’t
catch smallpox infection because
she has had cowpox, began
inoculating humans with materials
from cowpox lesions, he eventually
published result of 23 successful
vaccination.

 Although he didn’t understand

nature of smallpox, he was able to
protect his patients from the
dreaded disease through exposure
to cowpox virus

 Louis Pasteur (1884)- used the term

‘virus’ for any disease causing agent
History
 Charles chamberland (1884)-
developed bacterial filter which
made it possible to discover viruses.
Tobbacco mosaic disease was the
first to be studied with the filter

 1892- Dmitri Ivanovski showed that

the causal agent of mosaic disease
of tobacco plants, manifesting as
discoloration of the leaf passed
through a bacteria proof filter and
could not be cultivated or seen

 Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosch

found that the hoof and mouth
disease of cattle is caused by a virus
and it is filterable

History
 Waltereed (1900) studied yellow fever
disease and showed that yellow fever
was due to virus transmitted by
mosquitoes. In early 20th century, it had
been established that viruses are
different from bacteria and can cause
disease in plants, livestock and humans

 Peyton Rous (1911) reported that a virus

(Rous sarcoma virus) was responsible
for a malignant muscle tumor in
chickens. This study reported that some
malignancies are caused by viruses

 Frederick Turock (1915) reported that

bacteria also could be attacked by
viruses

 Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll (1934)

invented electron microscope to study
detailed morphology of viruses
History
 Wendell (1936), a biochemist, specialist in
X-Ray crystallography which is very
instrumental in describing particles and
symmetry. He studied TMV which attack
leaves of tobacco plants. He succeeded in
extracting the virus in pure crystals and
also show that tobacco mosaic virus is
composed of protein and RNA

 Goodpasteur (1930)- developed method

for growing viruses on chick embryos

 John enders (1949) use of living humans

and animal tissue cells for in vitro culture
of viruses

 Frederic Bawder and Norman Pirie-

separated TMV particles into protein and
nucleic acid, making it clear that viruses
are complexes of nucleic acid and proteins
that are able to reproduce inside living
cells
General properties of viruses
 Smaller than bacteria

 Invisible under light microscope

 It has a simple structure. They are nucleoproteins

particles consisting of DNA/RNA surrounded by
protein capsid

 They lack cellular organization. Cytoplasm,

mitochondria, golgi body, lysosome, cell membrane
and ribosome are absent. They use host ribosome
during protein synthesis
General properties of Viruses
 They cannot multiply outside a living cell. They
are obligate parasites

 They are metabolically inactive

 They lack enzyme systems and protein synthesis

machinery

 They have only one nucleic acid- DNA/RNA

 They do not have power of growth and division

Structure of viruses
 The complete infectious unit as a whole is called the
virion. This is made up of:

◦ Nucleic acid core/viral genome

◦ Surrounded by protein coat capsid whose function is :

protect viral nucleic acid, it is involved in viral infection,
antigenic and specific for each virus type, provides
structural symmetry to the virus particle

◦ Nucleocapsid – this is the capsid with the enclosed nucleic

acid. It may be naked or surrounded by loose membrane -
envelope
Structure of Viruses
 Viral envelope

◦ It is the lipid containing membrane surrounding some viral particles

◦ It is derived from plasma membrane of host cell during their release

by budding from the cell surfaces

◦ It confers chemical, antigenic, biological properties on viruses

◦ Not all viruses have envelope

◦ Thus viruses can be divided into 2 groups :

 Enveloped – influenza viruses, HSV, coronaviruses

 Non-enveloped (naked )virus- Rotaviruses, polioviruses, coxsackievirus

Structure of viruses
 Every virus has a characteristic shape and size.
This ranges from 20 nm to 300 nm diameter.

 Viruses can exist in 3 shapes:

◦ Helical e.g influenza virus, mumps, rabies,

coronavirus

◦ Icosahedral e.g herpes virus, adenovirus

◦ Complex e.g bacteriophage, poxvirus

Structure of viruses
Classification of viruses
 Virus classification is the process of naming viruses and placing them
into a taxonomic system

 There are currently 2 main schemes used for classification

A. International committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) – The ICTV was

formed to assign viruses to a taxonomical hierarchy. The taxa used for
classifying viruses are order, family, genus, and species. Because they
are not alive, viruses are not categorized within the same taxonomical
tree as living organisms.

Viral classification starts at the level of Order

◦ Order virales
◦ Family viridae
◦ Subfamily virinae
◦ Genus virus
◦ Species – name generally takes the form of disease virus
Classification of Viruses
 Description of human RSV using ICTV
classification
◦ Order –mononegavirales
◦ Family –paramyxoviridae
◦ Subfamily –pneumovirinae
◦ Genus – pneumovirus
◦ Species – Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
Classification
B. Baltimore classification
- It was first defined in 1971. It is a scheme for classifying viruses based on type of
genome and its replication strategy

- It was named after David Baltimore, a biologist

- This system places viruses into one of 7 groups depending on:

- Composition of their nucleic acid (DNA/RNA)

- Strandedness (single/double) - single stranded RNA viruses are are broken down into positive
strand and negative strand (aka positive sense/ plus strand)
- positive-strand RNA is able to be immediately translated into proteins; as such, messenger RNA
(mRNA) in the cell is positive strand.

- Negative-strand (also negative-sense or minus-strand) RNA is not translatable into proteins; it

first has to be transcribed into positive-strand RNA.

- Method of replication
Classification of viruses
Conclusion
 Virology has had a remarkable history. Viruses, because of
their predatory nature, have shaped the history and evolution
of their hosts. These smallest of living entities exert
significant forces on all life forms, including themselves.

 The medical consequences of human viral infections have

resulted in extraordinary efforts on the part of virologists to
study, understand, and eradicate these agents.

 These virologists have elucidated new principles of life

processes and taken major new directions in science. Many of
the concepts and tools of molecular biology have been
derived from the study of viruses and their host cells and
studies of these viruses is still ongoing .
THANK YOU