Question

A virus is considered as a living organism and an obligate parasite when inside a host cell. But virus is not classified along with bacteria or fungi. What are the characters of virus that are similar to non-living objects?

Answer 1

Features-

The characters of the virus similar to non-living objects are:

• Non cellular- Viruses do not have a complete cell structures like cell organelles such as nucleus, ribosomes etc.
• Dependent on living organisms- They are considered non -living outside the host cell. They do not show any metabolic activity hence, they use metabolic machinery of the host living cells to replicate.
• Crystallised- They are easily crystallised and crystals consist largely of proteins.