AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -During attachment and penetration, the virus attaches itself to a host cell and injects its genetic material into it. During uncoating, replication, and assembly, the viral DNA or RNA incorporates itself into the host cell’s genetic material and induces it to replicate the viral genome.

Detailed explanation-2: -To trigger infection, a virus binds to receptors on a host cell’s plasma membrane. This interaction induces virus internalization, and initiates a complex journey of the viral particle into the host’s interior that leads to either nonproductive or productive infection (Mercer et al.

Detailed explanation-3: -A virus must use cell processes to replicate. The viral replication cycle can produce dramatic biochemical and structural changes in the host cell, which may cause cell damage. These changes, called cytopathic (causing cell damage) effects, can change cell functions or even destroy the cell.

Detailed explanation-4: -Since viruses are intracellular parasites, they rely on their host cells for the energy, macromolecular synthesis machinery and the work benches for genome replication and particle assembly. Because of this dependence, viruses have evolved a myriad of mechanisms for exploiting normal host cell functions.

Detailed explanation-5: -Viruses cannot replicate on their own, but rather depend on their host cell’s protein synthesis pathways to reproduce. This typically occurs by the virus inserting its genetic material in host cells, co-opting the proteins to create viral replicates, until the cell bursts from the high volume of new viral particles.