THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF INHERITANCE
VIRUSES AND PRIONS
|
Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
|
|
|
viroids
|
|
|
viruses
|
|
|
bacteria
|
|
|
prions
|
Detailed explanation-1: -Prions, so-called because they are proteinaceous, are infectious particles-smaller than viruses-that contain no nucleic acids (neither DNA nor RNA).
Detailed explanation-2: -Prions are proteinaceous infectious agents-Prions do not have nucleic acid. Prions are considered to be the causative agents of Creutzfeld Jakob disease, scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and kuru.
Detailed explanation-3: -In contrast to viruses or bacteria, unprecedentedly, prions consist of amino acids but lack nucleic acids.
Detailed explanation-4: -Prions are infectious agents composed exclusively of a single sialoglycoprotein called PrP 27-30. They contain no nucleic acid. PrP 27-30 has a mass of 27, 000-30, 000 daltons and is composed of 145 amino acids with glycosylation at or near amino acids 181 and 197.
Detailed explanation-5: -All true viruses contain nucleic acid-either DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid)-and protein. The nucleic acid encodes the genetic information unique for each virus.