viral diseases in plants and animals
Answers
Viruses are intracellular (inside cells) pathogenic particles that infect other living organisms. Human diseases caused by viruses include chickenpox, herpes, influenza, rabies, small pox and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
Answer:
Viruses are intracellular (inside cells) pathogenic particles that infect other living organisms. Human diseases caused by viruses include chickenpox, herpes, influenza, rabies, small pox and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Although these are the viruses most of us are familiar with, the first virus ever described and from which the term was eventually derived was tobacco mosaic virus or TMV (the term virus was derived from the original description of the causal agent of TMV—“contagium vivum fluidum” or contagious living fluid). TMV was discovered by Martinus W. Beijerinck, a Dutch microbiologist, in 1898.
Explanation:
Morphology
Virus particles are extremely small and can be seen only with an electron microscope. Most plant viruses are either rod-shaped or isometric (polyhedral). TMV, potato virus Y (PVY), and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) are examples of a short rigid rod-shaped, a long flexuous rod-shaped, and an isometric virus, respectively. Viruses consist of an inner core of nucleic acid (either ribonucleic acid [RNA] or deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA]) surrounded by an outer sheath or coat of protein (referred to as the capsid). The capsid is further enclosed by a membrane in most human and animal viruses that helps the virus pass through the cell membrane in these types of cells. Since the cell membrane in plants is surrounded by a rigid cell wall, plant viruses require a wound for their initial entrance into a plant cell. Wounds in plants can occur naturally, such as in the branching of lateral roots. They may also be the result of agronomic or horticultural practices, or other mechanical means; fungal, nematode, or parasitic plant infections; or by insects. In some cases, the organism creating the wound can also carry and transmit the virus. Organisms that transmit pathogens are called vectors. Mechanical and insect vector transmission are the two most important means by which plant viruses spread. The activity of humans in propagating plants by budding and grafting or by cuttings is one of the chief ways viral diseases spread. In fact, plant virologists use grafting and budding procedures to transmit and detect viruses in their studies. The seedling offspring of a virus-infected plant is usually, but not always, free of the virus, depending on the plant species and the kind of virus. Insect transmission is perhaps the most important means of virus transmission in the field. Insects in the order Homoptera, such as aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, whiteflies and mealy bugs—that have piercing sucking mouthparts—are the most common and economically important vectors of plant viruses. Some plant viruses can also be transmitted in pollen grains or by seed.