Brief Note on Viruses

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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,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 ecosystemon 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 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 the genetic material, i.e., long molecules of DNA or RNA that encode the structure of the proteins by which the virus acts; a protein coat, the capsid, which surrounds and protects the genetic material; and in some cases an outside envelope of lipids. The shapes of these virus particles range from simple helical and icosahedral forms to more complex structures. Most virus species have virions too small to be seen with an optical microscope, as they are one-hundredth the size of most bacteria.

The origins of viruses in the evolutionary history of life are unclear: some may have evolved from plasmids—pieces of DNA that can move between cells—while others may have evolved from bacteria. In evolution, viruses are an important means of horizontal gene transfer, which increases genetic diversity in a way analogous to sexual reproduction. Viruses are considered by some biologists to be a life form, because they carry genetic material, reproduce, and evolve through natural selection, although they lack the key characteristics, such as cell structure, that are generally considered necessary criteria for defining life. Because they possess some but not all such qualities, viruses have been described as "organisms at the edge of life", and as self-replicators.

Viruses spread in many ways. One transmission pathway is through disease-bearing organisms known as vectors: for example, viruses are often transmitted from plant to plant by insects that feed on plant sap, such as aphids; and viruses in animals can be carried by blood-suckinginsects. Influenza viruses spread in the air by coughing and sneezing. Norovirus and rotavirus, common causes of viral gastroenteritis, are transmitted by the faecal–oral route, passed by hand-to-mouth contact or in food or water.

Applied Microbiology is a peer-reviewed Open Access Journal, encourages on-going international research and articles related to but not limited to Medical microbiology, pathogenic microbes, Pharmaceutical microbiology (antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins, vaccines) Industrial microbiology, Microbial biotechnology, Plant pathology, Veterinary, Food, Agricultural, Soil, Environmental Microbiology, etc.

It’s our privilege to recite you as a foremost strategist in the realm of research and invite to endowment your research penmanship to write (volume 7 issue 8 ) Short Communication or mini review on above topic to be published in our journal.

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