Canadian Medical Guide > Organisms > Viruses Terms and Definitions




Viruses

Medical Definition: Minute infectious agents whose genomes are composed of DNA or RNA, but not both. They are characterized by a lack of independent metabolism and the inability to replicate outside living host cells.
Guide Notes: GEN or unspecified; prefer specific taxonomic group or genus; /drug eff: consider also ANTIVIRAL AGENTS; note X ref ONCOLYTIC VIRUSES: ONCOGENIC VIRUSES is available; do not confuse "slow viruses" with "latent viruses": slow cause dis with very long precl
Also Called: Animal Viruses,Oncolytic Viruses,Zoophaginae
Viruses Categories.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Arboviruses - Arthropod-borne viruses. A non-taxonomic designation for viruses that can replicate in both vertebrate hosts and arthropod vectors. Included are some members of the following families: ARENAVIRIDAE; BUNYAVIRIDAE; REOVIRIDAE; TOGAVIRIDAE; and FLAVIVIRIDAE. (From Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2nd ed)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Archaeal Viruses - Viruses whose hosts are in the domain ARCHAEA.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Bacteriophages - Viruses whose hosts are bacterial cells.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Defective Viruses - Viruses which lack a complete genome so that they cannot completely replicate or cannot form a protein coat. Some are host-dependent defectives, meaning they can replicate only in cell systems which provide the particular genetic function which they lack. Others, called SATELLITE VIRUSES, are able to replicate only when their genetic defect is complemented by a helper virus.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition DNA Viruses - Viruses whose nucleic acid is DNA.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Helper Viruses - Viruses which enable defective viruses to replicate or to form a protein coat by complementing the missing gene function of the defective (satellite) virus. Helper and satellite may be of the same or different genus.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Hepatitis Viruses - Any of the viruses that cause inflammation of the liver. They include both DNA and RNA viruses as well viruses from humans and animals.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Insect Viruses - Viruses infecting insects, the largest family being BACULOVIRIDAE.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Plant Viruses - Viruses parasitic on plants higher than bacteria.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Proviruses - Duplex DNA sequences in eukaryotic chromosomes, corresponding to the genome of a virus, that are transmitted from one cell generation to the next without causing lysis of the host. Proviruses are often associated with neoplastic cell transformation and are key features of retrovirus biology.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Reassortant Viruses - Viruses containing two or more pieces of nucleic acid (segmented genome) from different parents. Such viruses are produced in cells coinfected with different strains of a given virus.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition RNA Viruses - Viruses whose genetic material is RNA.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Vertebrate Viruses - Viruses infecting man and other vertebrates.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Virion - The infective system of a virus, composed of the viral genome, a protein core, and a protein coat called a capsid, which may be naked or enclosed in a lipoprotein envelope called the peplos.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Viroids - A group of pathogens comprising the smallest known agents of infectious disease. They are unencapsulated and are capable of replicating autonomously in susceptible cells. Positively identified viroids composed of single-stranded RNA have been isolated from higher plants, but the existence of DNA viroids pathogenic to animals is suspected.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Viruses, Unclassified - Viruses whose taxonomic relationships have not been established.

Viruses Medical Definitions and Terms

CANADIAN MEDICAL GUIDE

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