virus

Rose rosette disease

Kingdom

Habitatmarine, brackish, freshwater

Observations3,876

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses can infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea (Koonin et al. 2006). Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants, and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, about 5,000 viruses have been described in detail(Dimmock et al. 2006), although there are millions of different types (Breitbart & Rohwer 2005). Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most abundant type of biological entity (Edwards & Rohwer 2005, Lawrence et al. 2009). The study of viruses is known as virology, a sub-speciality of microbiology. Virus particles (known as virions) consist of two or three parts: the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry genetic information; a protein coat that protects these genes; and in some cases an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell. The shapes of viruses range from simple helical and icosahedral forms to more complex structures. The average virus is

via

🔬Museum specimens

Specimen records

56

With media

56

Collections

CDA, CUP

Recorded in

United States

• A Literature Review of Zika Virus.ReviewEmerging infectious diseases · 2016Plourde AR, Bloch EMDOI: 10.3201/eid2207.151990
• Nipah virus: pathogenesis, genome, diagnosis, and treatment.ReviewApplied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Madhukalya R, Yadav U, Parray HA et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00253-025-13474-6
• Mutation and Epistasis in Influenza Virus Evolution.ReviewViruses · 2018Lyons DM, Lauring ASDOI: 10.3390/v10080407
• Dengue virus: structure, genome, evolution and challenges to control and prevent transmission.ReviewAntonie van Leeuwenhoek · 2025Umar K, Sutradhar T, Prakash P et al.DOI: 10.1007/s10482-025-02153-1
• Virus-erythrocyte interactions.ReviewAdvances in virus research · 1972Howe C, Lee LTDOI: 10.1016/s0065-3527(08)60746-0
• Advancements in Research on Duck Tembusu Virus Infections.ReviewViruses · 2024Cheng Y, Wang R, Wu Q et al.DOI: 10.3390/v16050811
• Zika Virus: A Critical Analysis and Pharmaceutical Perspectives.ReviewCritical reviews in eukaryotic gene expression · 2018Sultan N, Bukhari SA, Ali I et al.DOI: 10.1615/CritRevEukaryotGeneExpr.2018025061
• Charting the Proteins of Oropouche Virus.ReviewViruses · 2025Thomas SDOI: 10.3390/v17111434

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Instance of

taxon

Subclass of

pathogen

Has part

viral capsid

Parent taxon

Biota

Image

SARS-CoV-2 without background.png

Has use

virovory

via Wikidata · CC0