Study GuideMicrobiology–The Viruses1.Viral Cultivation and PhysiologyViruses arenot living cells, so they cannot grow on their own. To multiply, they must infect alivinghost cell. Because of this, special methods are used to grow and study viruses in the laboratory.1.1Cultivation of VirusesCultivating BacteriophagesBacteriophages are viruses that infectbacteria. To study them:1.Bacteria are grown in a suitable nutrient medium.2.Bacteriophages are added to the culture.3.The viruses infect the bacteria, multiply inside them, and increase rapidly in number.1.2Cultivating Animal and Plant VirusesAnimal and plant viruses are usually grown incell cultures.Acell cultureis prepared by growing living cells outside their original plant or animal source. Thesecells are kept alive in a nutrient-rich solution inside aPetri dish. When the cells spread out and forma thin layer, called amonolayer, viruses are added. The viruses then infect the cells and replicate.Viruses can also be grown using:•Fertilized eggs•Living animalsThese methods are especially useful for studying viruses that do not grow well in cell cultures.1.3Large-Scale Virus ProductionFor research purposes, viruses can be grown inlarge tissue culture systems. After viral replication:Preview Mode
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