Pathogenic Microorganisms That Can Only Replicate Inside The Cells Of Living Things

Viruses are the smallest infectious agents having a diameter of about 20 to 300 nano meters. Unlike bacteria, which have two types of nucleic acids, viruses only have one nucleic acid, namely RNA or DNA. Viruses are pathogenic microorganisms that can only replicate inside the cells of living things because they do not have the cellular equipment to reproduce on their own. Viruses are microscopic parasites that infect cells of biological organisms. Later, viruses can only reproduce on living material by invading and utilizing living cells because viruses do not have cells to reproduce independently. All forms of life can be infected by viruses, from animals to plants to bacteria and archaea. The shape of the virus body varies, some are rod-shaped, oval, filamentous, many square, like the letter T. The virus body is not a cell because it does not have a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, cell nucleus, and other cell organelles.