Lifecycle of the Polio Virus
Lifecycle of the Polio Virus
Polio is an infectious disease that has haunted the lives of many for over 3,000 years. The first record of Poliomyelitis in the human body dates back to ancient Egypt where inhabitants of the area engraved a documented version of paralytic Poliomyelitis into stone. When indoor plumbing came into use, in the 20th century, and sewage systems began to develop into complicated public works where waste was dumped into towns' water supplies; that is when Poliomyelitis began to spread. The disease causing organism, Poliomyelitis, spread throughout the United States and was a threat to the lives of the country’s citizens for decades. It was finally entirely eradicated in the later half of the century, but a childhood vaccine is still recommended to be given in order to prevent the RNA based virus. Efforts have been made to eradicate the disease world wide, but doctors have not completed conquered the virus.
Poliomyelitis, a virus that’s apart of the Picornavirus group, takes an icosahedral shape. That is, a geometric figure consisting of 20 triangular sides. The viral capsid is the actual structure that forms the isocahedral shape. The capsid is the protein coat that surrounds the nucleic acid of the virus. Poliomyelitis is a non-enveloped virus, meaning that it lacks a membrane-like structure on the exterior of its cell.
The life cycle of Polio is a lytic type of life style. The lytic life cycle is a five-step process where a virus invades a host cell, in this case the Poliovirus receptor (PVR). The procedure begins when the virus attaches itself to the host cell. The virus, using its tail fibers, attaches itself to a receptor site, a familiar place for a virus to attach itself. In the second stage of the lytic cycle, the viral DNA is released into the cell after an entrance is created. No actual hole is made in the cells surface; however, an enzyme, having been released from the virus, weakens a specific spot so that the viral DNA can be forced through and into the cell. After changing the cell’s makeup so that proteins are synthesized differently, a translation process results in viral proteins and enzymes, as well as the replication of the viral DNA from the bacteria that is hosting the virus....