Biology Forums - Study Force

What were the evolutionary advantages of certain virus families having either ssDNA or dsRNA as the primary genetic material over the more common dsDNA and ssRNA?

Wait a second, is this a trick question? I thought evolution was based on living things :-\ That said, can this even be explained using evolution? In addition, don't viruses form spontaneously?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_evolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_evolution)

They still evolve. And I would think so. Organisms and viruses alike both have the goal of reproducing and continuing the life of their "species" if you will. They have to evolve in some way to be able to meet changing environments, as Earth has changed a great deal in the past millions of years. If they don't evolve (or adapt if you like that better), they disappear. And fundamentals of biotic evolution, such as natural selection and mutations, still apply to viruses, even in they aren't technically alive.

But if you don't want me to use "evolutionary," that's fine. Just say the advantages of ssDNA and dsRNA over ssRNA and dsDNA for the viruses that have the two former as their primary genetic material.

Post Merge: 10 years ago

Here's an even better way to put it, since I apparently mis-phrased my question.  :sWhat reproductive advantages do viruses of different genetic materials (ssRNA, dsRNA, ssDNA, dsDNA) have over each other and why?

Sorry for the confusion. But still an interesting discussion.

Right, if you put it that way, you're right. Some viruses, like the flu virus or the cold virus undergo re-assortment and shuffling, leading to changes in the their strain from one season to the next. As a result, they are subject to mutations, the genomes of different viruses can recombine to form novel progeny, the expression of the viral genome can be regulated, and viral gene products can interact. I would say the only advantage, say between an RNA genome a DNA genome is that the RNA genome is more delicate, and therefore can undergo mutation quicker than a DNA virus. This is merely out of speculation, by the way. Therefore, RNA viruses are prone to mutating at a much higher rate than their DNA virus counterparts. RNA viruses do not have 'fidelity of transcription'. Influenza and Rhinoviruses are prime examples. Given that, they have the ability to evade the immune system and cause new 'versions' of the same virus, making life for us just plain miserable.

When the virus infects a host cell with its RNA, the RNA can be used to immediately make protein at the host cells ribosomes. DNA from DNA viruses must gain entry into the nucleus, be copied to RNA which must then leave the nucleus and be tranlated to a protein at the ribosomes. Another advantage is that some organisms, such as bacteria, defense mechanisms. In these cases, chemicals called restriction enzymes will destroy foreign DNA.

Ok, thanks. But no idea about between single and double stranded?

Content hidden

Just what I was looking for :) Thanks.

Glad I can help man!