Can viruses get viruses?

Don’t think so. Bacteria can get viruses, but there’s nothing in a virus that another virus could take advantage of.

dv said:

Can viruses get viruses?

I’d be willing to hazard a yes.

Angus Prune said:

Don’t think so. Bacteria can get viruses, but there’s nothing in a virus that another virus could take advantage of.

why?

Seems so

The discovery of a massive virus that suffers from another virus has reignited debate over whether the microscopic agents of infection should be considered living things rather than bags of genes.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com.au/news/2008/08/080822-giant-virus.html

Surely the AVN is the font of all knowledge in this subject. Just ask them.

roughbarked said:

Angus Prune said:

Don’t think so. Bacteria can get viruses, but there’s nothing in a virus that another virus could take advantage of.

why?

Nothing in a virus that will replicate DNA or RNA.

Hypothetically, if there was such a virus. It’s RNA wrapped up in protein. Imagine that it attaches to another virus, it abandons the protein coat and becomes….RNA wrapped in a protein coat. No use at all.

Angus Prune said:

roughbarked said:

Angus Prune said:

Don’t think so. Bacteria can get viruses, but there’s nothing in a virus that another virus could take advantage of.

why?

Nothing in a virus that will replicate DNA or RNA.

Hypothetically, if there was such a virus. It’s RNA wrapped up in protein. Imagine that it attaches to another virus, it abandons the protein coat and becomes….RNA wrapped in a protein coat. No use at all.

reasonable.. go on..

Viruses are acellular, they require various cellular processes to reproduce, usually involving host cells own replication processes.

Therefore, viruses can’t infect one another.

Teleost said:

Viruses are acellular, they require various cellular processes to reproduce, usually involving host cells own replication processes.

Therefore, viruses can’t infect one another.

finalised then?

Well, you can get horizontal gene transfer

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) refers to the transfer of genes between organisms in a manner other than traditional reproduction. Also termed lateral gene transfer, it contrasts with vertical transfer, the transmission of genes from the parental generation to offspring via sexual or asexual reproduction. HGT has been shown to be an important factor in the evolution of many organisms.

[…]

The virus called Mimivirus infects amoebae. Another virus, called Sputnik, also infects amoebae, but it cannot reproduce unless mimivirus has already infected the same cell. “Sputnik’s genome reveals further insight into its biology. Although 13 of its genes show little similarity to any other known genes, three are closely related to mimivirus and mamavirus genes, perhaps cannibalized by the tiny virus as it packaged up particles sometime in its history. This suggests that the satellite virus could perform horizontal gene transfer between viruses, paralleling the way that bacteriophages ferry genes between bacteria.”

tauto said:

Seems so

The discovery of a massive virus that suffers from another virus has reignited debate over whether the microscopic agents of infection should be considered living things rather than bags of genes.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com.au/news/2008/08/080822-giant-virus.html

I stand corrected and stand down.

Time for bed anyway.

Teleost said:

I stand corrected and stand down.

Time for bed anyway.

can i use that?

From Transduction

The packaging of bacteriophage DNA has low fidelity and small pieces of bacterial DNA, together with the bacteriophage genome, may become packaged into the bacteriophage genome. At the same time, some phage genes are left behind in the bacterial chromosome.

There are generally three types of recombination events that can lead to this incorporation of bacterial DNA into the viral DNA, leading to two modes of recombination.

[See link for details]

Geniuses forgot about deltavirus, and really, most people have heard of retroviruses that contain their own DNA polymerase.

Long time, no see.

SCIENCE said:

Geniuses forgot about deltavirus,

Or didn’t know about how crazy that thing is. But I’ve never claimed to be a biologist. :)

SCIENCE said:

and really, most people have heard of retroviruses that contain their own DNA polymerase.

They have?