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To: palmer

all viruses have a protein capsule or coat. This protein coat has the sites that help it recognize and bind to host cells and inject its viral DNA.

Some viruses, when they are expelled from the host cell, take with them an additional coating made of the infected cell’s membrane - a lipid coating.

These lipid coated viruses last longer outside the host, and are often harder for immune systems in the host to attack (because the cell membrane lipids act a bit like camo).

I think Ebola does not have this additional lipid coating - not sure. I never studied ebola. (Do you want to know about bacteriophage T2?)


73 posted on 10/16/2014 9:26:01 AM PDT by Triple (Socialism denies people the right to the fruits of their labor, and is as abhorrent as slavery)
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To: Triple
Thanks. I read somewhere that Ebola had a lipid coating and that made it absorb bleach better (easier cleanup).

I have this reference: https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Infection_Mechanism_of_Genus_Ebolavirus which says:

The tubular Ebola virions are generally 80 nm in diameter and 800 nm long. In the center of the particle is the viral nucleocapsid which consists of the helical ssRNA genome wrapped about the NP, VP35, VP30 and L proteins. This structure is then surrounded by an outer viral envelope derived from the host cell membrane that is studded with 10 nm long viral glycoprotein (GP) spikes. Between the capsid and envelope are viral proteins VP40 and VP24 [14] (Fig 6).

That sounds like what you described, a lipid coating.

76 posted on 10/16/2014 10:02:22 AM PDT by palmer (This comment is not approved or cleared by FDA)
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