BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
VIRUSES
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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DNA
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RNA
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DNA or RNA
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None of the above
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Detailed explanation-1: -Chemical Composition and Mode of Replication: The genome of a virus may consist of DNA or RNA, which may be single stranded (ss) or double stranded (ds), linear or circular. The entire genome may occupy either one nucleic acid molecule (monopartite genome) or several nucleic acid segments (multipartite genome).
Detailed explanation-2: -A virus has either DNA or RNA genes and is called a DNA virus or a RNA virus, respectively. The vast majority of viruses have RNA genomes. Plant viruses tend to have single-stranded RNA genomes and bacteriophages tend to have double-stranded DNA genomes.
Detailed explanation-3: -Viral genomes consist of DNA or RNA only, never both. DNA and RNA molecules can be double stranded or single stranded, linear or circular (Fig. 1.6), segmented (composed of multiple pieces of nucleic acid) or nonsegmented.