Virus Structure

Robert McKenna, University of Florida, Florida, USA
Lee Faulkner, University of Florida, Florida, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0000439

Viruses are infectious obligate intracellular parasites consisting of RNA or DNA in a protective coat. They cannot increase in size but can replicate in susceptible host cells, which may or may not be destroyed by viral replication and release.

Keywords: capsid; icosahedral symmetry; helical symmetry; tailed phage; enveloped virus

Figure 1. Some viruses and their families: size and morphology. (a) Vaccinia virus (Poxviridae); (b) Rabies virus (Rhabdoviridae); (c) Mumps virus (Paramyxoviridae); (d) T-even viruses (Myoviridae); (e) Coliphage (Siphoviridae); (f) Herpes simplex virus (Herpesviridae); (g) Human adenovirus 2 (Adenoviridae); (h) Human immunodeficiency virus (Retroviridae); (i) Influenza virus (Orthomyxoviridae); (j) Tobacco mosaic virus (Tobamovirus); (k) Simian virus 40 (Papovaviridae); (l) Rhinovirus (Picornaviridae); (m) Maize streak virus (Geminiviridae); (n) Coliphage X174 (Microviridae); (o) Canine parvovirus (Parvoviridae).
Figure 2. (a) Icosahedral symmetry. (b) Helical symmetry. , subunits per helical turn; P, pitch of helix; p, axial rise per subunit.
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 Further Reading
    book Cann AJ (1993) Principles of Molecular Virology. New York: Academic Press.
    book Chiu W, Roger MB and Garcea RL (1997) Structural Biology of Viruses. New York: Oxford University Press.
    book Dimmock NJ and Primrose SB (1994) Introduction to Modern Virology, 4th edn. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.
    book Fields BN and Knipe DM (1998) Virology, 4th edn, vols 1 and 2. New York: Raven Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Virus Structure | Virus Structure and Function
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Article Title: Virus Structure
 
How to Cite close
McKenna, Robert, and Faulkner, Lee(Apr 2001) Virus Structure. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0000439]