AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Unlike a prokaryotic bacteria cell, a virus, like the one in the image, cannot reproduce on its own. it contains a nucleic acid. Viruses are parasitic, in that they require a host cell in order to go through the process of reproduction.

Detailed explanation-2: -A virus cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself. Often, a virus ends up killing the host cell in the process, causing damage to the host organism. Well-known examples of viruses causing human disease include AIDS, COVID-19, measles and smallpox.

Detailed explanation-3: -This is because viruses are essentially packets of genetic material and proteins-they lack the cellular “machinery” required to survive and reproduce on their own. Viruses can use either prokaryotes or eukaryotes, or both, as host cells.

Detailed explanation-4: -Viruses are considered neither prokaryotes nor eukaryotes because they lack the characteristics of living things, except the ability to replicate (which they accomplish only in living cells).

Detailed explanation-5: -Prokaryotes are microscopic organisms that include the domains Bacteria and Archaea. Prokaryotes lack a nucleus, and they have no organelles except ribosomes. The hereditary material exists as a single loop of double-stranded DNA in a nuclear region, or nucleoid.