Question

Who discovered the virus to be a nucleoprotein entity?
A. Clausis
B. Pasteur
C. Ivanowski
D. Bawden and Pirie

Answer 1

Viruses are non-cellular, microscopic infectious agents that will always multiply within a host cell. It is composed of genetic information and protein that can only invade and replicate bacteria, plants and animals within the living cells.

Complete Answer:
- Nucleoprotein, a conjugated protein composed of a nucleic acid-linked protein, either DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid). The protein paired with DNA is typically either histone or protamine, contained in chromosomes by the subsequent nucleoproteins.
- Nucleoproteins tend to be charged positively, promoting contact with nucleic acid chains that are negatively charged. There is an understanding of the tertiary mechanisms and biological roles of certain nucleoproteins.
- X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance and cryo-electron microscopy are important techniques for determining the structures of nucleoproteins. Virus genomes are highly densely packed into the viral capsid (either DNA or RNA).
- Therefore, certain viruses with their binding sites pointed inwards are nothing more than an ordered array of nucleoproteins. Influenza, rabies, Ebola, Bunyamwera, Schmallenberg, Hazara, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and Lassa are structurally characterised viral nucleoproteins.
- Norman Pirie (1 July 1907 – 29 March 1997) was a British biochemist and virologist who, alongside Frederick Bawden, discovered that the virus could be crystallised by insulating the tomato bushy stunt virus in 1936. This was a significant milestone in the understanding of DNA and RNA.

So the answer is “Option D ”.

Note: Typical nucleoproteins involve ribosomes, nucleosomes and viral nucleocapsid proteins. Nucleoproteins aim to be positively charged, which promotes contact with negatively charged nucleic acid chains. The tertiary mechanisms and biological roles of several nucleoproteins have been discovered.