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Viruses may have once been small cells that parasitised larger cells. Eventually, the genes they no longer needed for a parasitic way of life were lost. The bacteria Rickettsia and Chlamydia are living cells that, like viruses, can reproduce only inside host cells. This lends credence to this theory, as their dependence on being parasites may ...
HIV is one of several viruses transmitted through sexual contact and by exposure to infected blood. The variety of host cells that a virus can infect is called its host range: this is narrow for viruses specialized to infect only a few species, or broad for viruses capable of infecting many. [13]: 123–124
A giant virus, sometimes referred to as a girus, is a very large virus, some of which are larger than typical bacteria. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] All known giant viruses belong to the phylum Nucleocytoviricota . [ 3 ]
When the virus replicates faster than the immune system can control, it can destroy cells and harm the body, and it can even incite an over-zealous immune reaction that can cause other damage.
Mimivirus, short for "mimicking microbe", is so called to reflect its large size and apparent Gram-staining properties. [5] Mimivirus has a large and complex genome compared with most other viruses. Until 2013, when a larger virus Pandoravirus was described, it had the largest capsid diameter of all known viruses. [6]
Viruses infect all life forms; therefore the bacterial, plant, and animal cells and material in the gut also carry viruses. [6] When viruses cause harm by infecting the cells in the body, a symptomatic disease may develop. Contrary to common belief, harmful viruses may be in the minority, compared to benign viruses in the human body.
A very large virus, especially one of the so-called nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), which have extremely large genomes compared to the average virus and contain many unique genes not found in other organisms. Some of these viruses are larger than a typical bacterium. Global Virus Network (GVN) group-specific antigen. Also called a ...
Gamma phage, an example of virus particles (visualised by electron microscopy) Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses.It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they ...