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Virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898,Dimmock p. 4 more than 9,000 virus species have been described in detail of the millions of types of viruses in the environment. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a subspeciality of microbiology. When infected, a host cell is often forced to rapidly produce thousands of copies of the original virus. When not inside an infected cell or in the process of infecting a cell, viruses exist in the form of independent particles, or ''virions'', consisting of (i) the genetic ma ...
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Virology
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 cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy. The identification of the causative agent of tobacco mosaic disease (TMV) as a novel pathogen by Martinus Beijerinck (1898) is now acknowledged as being the official beginning of the field of virology as a discipline distinct from bacteriology. He realized the source was neither a bacterial nor a fungal infection, but something completely different. Beijerinck used the word "virus" to describe the mysterious agent in his 'contagium vivum fluidum' ('contagious living fluid'). Rosalind Franklin proposed the full structure of the tobacco mosaic virus in 1955. Virology ...
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Coronavirinae
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold (which is also caused by other viruses, predominantly rhinoviruses), while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19, which is causing the ongoing pandemic. In cows and pigs they cause diarrhea, while in mice they cause hepatitis and encephalomyelitis. Coronaviruses constitute the subfamily ''Orthocoronavirinae'', in the family ''Coronaviridae'', order ''Nidovirales'' and realm ''Riboviria''. They are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry. The genome size of coronaviruses ranges from approximately 26 to 32 kilobases, one of the largest among RNA viruses. They have characteristic club-shaped spikes that project from their surface, which in elect ...
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Realm (virology)
In virology, realm is the highest taxonomic rank established for viruses by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), which oversees virus taxonomy. Six virus realms are recognized and united by specific highly conserved traits: * '' Adnaviria'', which contains archaeal filamentous viruses with A-form double-stranded (ds) DNA genomes encoding a unique alpha-helical major capsid protein; * '' Duplodnaviria'', which contains all dsDNA viruses that encode the HK97-fold major capsid protein; * '' Monodnaviria'', which contains all single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses that encode a HUH superfamily endonuclease and their descendants; * ''Riboviria'', which contains all RNA viruses that encode RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and all viruses that encode reverse transcriptase; * '' Ribozyviria'', which contains hepatitis delta-like viruses with circular, negative-sense ssRNA genomes; * and '' Varidnaviria'', which contains all dsDNA viruses that encode a vertical jelly ...
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Riboviria
''Riboviria'' is a realm of viruses that includes all viruses that use a homologous RNA-dependent polymerase for replication. It includes RNA viruses that encode an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, as well as reverse-transcribing viruses (with either RNA or DNA genomes) that encode an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), also called RNA replicase, produces RNA (ribonucleic acid) from RNA. RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (RdDp), also called reverse transcriptase (RT), produces DNA ( deoxyribonucleic acid) from RNA. These enzymes are essential for replicating the viral genome and transcribing viral genes into messenger RNA (mRNA) for translation of viral proteins. ''Riboviria'' was established in 2018 to accommodate all RdRp-encoding RNA viruses and was expanded a year later to also include RdDp-encoding retroviruses. These two groups of viruses are assigned to two separate kingdoms: ''Orthornavirae'' for RdRp-encoding RNA viruses, and ''Pararnavirae ...
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Tobacco Mosaic Virus
''Tobacco mosaic virus'' (TMV) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus species in the genus ''Tobamovirus'' that infects a wide range of plants, especially tobacco and other members of the family Solanaceae. The infection causes characteristic patterns, such as "mosaic"-like mottling and discoloration on the leaves (hence the name). TMV was the first virus to be discovered. Although it was known from the late 19th century that a non-bacterial infectious disease was damaging tobacco crops, it was not until 1930 that the infectious agent was determined to be a virus. It is the first pathogen identified as a virus. The virus was crystallised by W.M. Stanley. It has a similar size to the largest synthetic molecule, known as PG5 History In 1886, Adolf Mayer first described the tobacco mosaic disease that could be transferred between plants, similar to bacterial infections. In 1892, Dmitri Ivanovsky gave the first concrete evidence for the existence of a non-bacterial infec ...
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Adnaviria
''Adnaviria'' is a realm of viruses that includes archaeal viruses that have a filamentous virion (i.e. body) and a linear, double-stranded DNA genome. The genome exists in A-form (A-DNA) and encodes a dimeric major capsid protein (MCP) that contains the SIRV2 fold, a type of alpha-helix bundle containing four helices. The virion consists of the genome encased in capsid proteins to form a helical nucleoprotein complex. For some viruses, this helix is surrounded by a lipid membrane called an envelope. Some contain an additional protein layer between the nucleoprotein helix and the envelope. Complete virions are long and thin and may be flexible or a stiff like a rod. ''Adnaviria'' was established in 2020 after cryogenic electron microscopy showed that the viruses in the realm were related due to a shared MCP, A-DNA, and general virion structure. Viruses in ''Adnaviria'' infect hyperthermophilic archaea, i.e. archaea that inhabit very high temperature environments such as hot s ...
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Varidnaviria
''Varidnaviria'' is a realm of viruses that includes all DNA viruses that encode major capsid proteins that contain a vertical jelly roll fold. The major capsid proteins (MCP) form into pseudohexameric subunits of the viral capsid, which stores the viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and are perpendicular, or vertical, to the surface of the capsid. Apart from this, viruses in the realm also share many other characteristics, such as minor capsid proteins (mCP) with the vertical jelly roll fold, an ATPase that packages viral DNA into the capsid, and a DNA polymerase that replicates the viral genome. ''Varidnaviria'' was established in 2019 based on the shared characteristics of the viruses in the realm. There are two groups of viruses in ''Varidnaviria'': viruses that have a double vertical jelly roll (DJR) folds in the MCP, assigned to the kingdom ''Bamfordvirae'', and viruses that have a single vertical jelly roll (SJR) fold in the MCP, assigned to the kingdom ''Helvetiavirae'' ...
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Viral Envelope
A viral envelope is the outermost layer of many types of viruses. It protects the genetic material in their life cycle when traveling between host cells. Not all viruses have envelopes. Numerous human pathogenic viruses in circulation are encased in lipid bilayers, and they infect their target cells by causing the viral envelope and cell membrane to fuse. Although there are effective vaccines against some of these viruses, there is no preventative or curative medicine for the majority of them. In most cases, the known vaccines operate by inducing antibodies that prevent the pathogen from entering cells. This happens in the case of enveloped viruses when the antibodies bind to the viral envelope proteins. The membrane fusion event that triggers viral entrance is caused by the viral fusion protein. Many enveloped viruses only have one protein visible on the surface of the particle, which is required for both mediating adhesion to the cell surface and for the subsequent membrane fusi ...
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Duplodnaviria
''Duplodnaviria'' is a realm of viruses that includes all double-stranded DNA viruses that encode the HK97 fold major capsid protein. The HK97 fold major capsid protein (HK97 MCP) is the primary component of the viral capsid, which stores the viral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Viruses in the realm also share a number of other characteristics, such as an icosahedral capsid, an opening in the viral capsid called a portal, a protease enzyme that empties the inside of the capsid prior to DNA packaging, and a terminase enzyme that packages viral DNA into the capsid. ''Duplodnaviria'' was established in 2019 based on the shared characteristics of viruses in the realm. There are two groups of viruses in ''Duplodnaviria'': tailed bacteriophages of the order ''Caudovirales'', which infect prokaryotes, and herpesviruses of the order ''Herpesvirales'', which infect animals. Tailed bacteriophages are very diverse and ubiquitous worldwide, and they may be the oldest lineage of viruses. Herp ...
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a provisional name, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and has also been called the human coronavirus 2019 (HCoV-19 or hCoV-19). First identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. SARS‑CoV‑2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans. SARS‑CoV‑2 is a virus of the species ''severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (SARSr-CoV), related to the SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. Despite its close relation to SARS-CoV-1, its closest known relatives, with which it forms a sister group, are the derived SAR ...
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Monodnaviria
''Monodnaviria'' is a realm of viruses that includes all single-stranded DNA viruses that encode an endonuclease of the HUH superfamily that initiates rolling circle replication of the circular viral genome. Viruses descended from such viruses are also included in the realm, including certain linear single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses and circular double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses. These atypical members typically replicate through means other than rolling circle replication. ''Monodnaviria'' was established in 2019 and contains four kingdoms: '' Loebvirae'', '' Sangervirae'', ''Trapavirae'', and '' Shotokuvirae''. Viruses in the first three kingdoms infect prokaryotes, and viruses in ''Shotokuvirae'' infect eukaryotes and include the atypical members of the realm. Viruses in ''Monodnaviria'' appear to have come into existence independently multiple times from circular bacterial and archaeal plasmids that encode the HUH endonuclease. Eukaryotic viruses in the realm appear to h ...
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Ribozyviria
''Ribozyviria'' is a realm of satellite nucleic acids. Established in ICTV TaxoProp 2020.012D, the realm is named after the presence of genomic and antigenomic ribozymes of the ''Deltavirus'' type. Additional common features include a rod-like structure, a RNA-binding "delta antigen" encoded in the genome, and animal hosts. Furthermore, the size range of the genomes of these viruses is between around 1547–1735nt, they encode a hammerhead ribozyme or a hepatitis delta virus ribozyme, and their coding capacity only involves one conserved protein. Most lineages of this realm are poorly understood, the notable exception being members of the genus ''Deltavirus'', the causal agents of Hepatitis D in humans. This realm of viruses have an unclear origin. They may have derived from retrozymes (a family of retrotransposons) or one of the other groups of mobile genetic elements that descended from retrozymes (i.e. viroids and satellites). But it was also proposed that they may have orig ...
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