Virion
As virion (plural: Viria , virions , or virion ), rarely Viron , a single virus particle refers to the outside of a cell is located. Virions, like viruses that then multiply by means of foreign cells, do not count as living beings ( organisms ), since they do not have their own metabolism .
A virion consists of one or more nucleic acid molecules , which are often surrounded by a protein capsule , the capsid . There may be other proteins in the virion, for example with enzymatic activities. In numerous virus types , the virion also has an outer lipid membrane, the virus envelope .
While the term “virion” is used solely to describe the structure of virus particles outside cells, the broader term “virus” also includes biological properties such as the infectivity of a virion.
Individual evidence
- ^ NJ Dimmock, Andrew J. Easton, Keith Leppard: Introduction to Modern Virology. 6th edition, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden 2007, ISBN 978-1-4051-3645-7 , p. 49, Chapter 4: Classification of Viruses.
- ↑ Herbert Hof, Rüdiger Dörries: Medical Microbiology . In: Alexander and Konstantin Bob (eds.): Duale Reihe . 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Thieme, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-13-125313-4 , p. 704 , 135 .