virus classification based on shape (morphological)

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anonymous · Answer

Viruses come in three kinds of shapes. ~~~~~~~~~ 1. Icosahedral http://www.web-books.com/MoBio/Free/images/Ch1E1.gif Some icosahedral viruses include.... herpesviruses (the ones that cause genital herpes, cold sores, mono, and chicken pox), and HIV (the one that causes AIDS). ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. Helical http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Helical_capsid.jpg Some helical viruses include.... orthomyxo viruses (the ones that cause the flu), and the Rabies virus (which obviously causes rabies). ~~~~~~~~~~ 3. Complex Most viruses can be classified as "icosahedral" or "helical." But some viruses don't fit either of those categories. So, scientists just call them "complex" viruses. One of the most well-known complex viruses was "Variola major," which was the virus that cause smallpox. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So, we have Icosahedral, Helical, and Complex viruses. That's one thing. Another thing is that some viruses are surrounded by a lipid bi-layer envelope. A bubble. Like this one: http://med.kufauniv.com/dr/dhiya/lectures_files/image003.jpg So, in addition to their shape, we have to say whether or not they are ENVELOPED. For example... HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) is an ICOSAHEDRAL, ENVELOPED virus.