Viruses are intermediate between living and non-living, and at various times they have been classified as both. Most biologists hedge their bets and refer to them as "biological entities", and they are among the smallest biological entities known to exist, being visible only under an electron microscope. The virus that causes AIDS, for example, is four millionths of an inch in diameter! They are not the simplest entities, however, as prions (believed to cause Mad Cow Disease) consist merely of protein.
Viruses are often considered non-living because they cannot reproduce by themselves, they do not eat or excrete, cannot move by themselves, and because they do not grow but merely multiply, with the help of the host. When a virus infects a cell, it virtually takes over the cell and forces it to create more viruses. Without a host cell, the virus is inert.
A virus essentially consists of two parts: an outer protein casing and a particle of nucleic acid (the genome), which can be double or single stranded DNA or double or single stranded RNA. The RNA viruses tend to mutate quickly and they are more variable than DNA viruses, which makes them generally more deadly.
The virus as a whole is known as a virion, while its protein casing is called a capsid, which is made up of fragments of protein called capsomeres. Some viruses also have a lipid (fat) membrane outside the capsid, and some have a protein tail or spikes projecting from the capsid or membrane.
To illustrate the different kinds of viruses and their anatomy, let us look at a few specific viruses.
INFLUENZA virus
There are many strands of the influenza virus, and they quickly mutate and change every year. They each contain a helical core of single-stranded RNA wrapped in protein (the combination is called a nucleocapsid). The core is enclosed in a protein layer called a matrix and the outer layer is a lipid membrane.
The outer layer has numerous tiny protein spikes made of haemagglutinin (HA), and in some types of virus there are also clusters of neuraminidase (NA). Some influenza viruses are classified according to the types of HA and NA in these spikes and clusters. The H5N1 virus, for example, is the Bird Flu virus, and others include the H2N1 and H3N2). Like most influenza viruses that attack other species besides humans, Bird (Avian) Flu is a type A flu virus, which is the type responsible for flu epidemics and pandemics. Type B influenza is more localized. There is also a Type C flu virus, but it causes no symptoms (and therefore is the flu virus of choice!)
AIDS virus
The virus that causes AIDS is the Human Immunodeficiency virus, HIV, which belongs to a class of virus known as the retroviruses. It is related to similar viruses that cause disease in monkeys, sheep, and other animals.
The nuclear material in HIV is RNA, which is surrounded by a roughly spherical protein capsid enclosed in a protein matrix and a lipid membrane studded with tiny protein spikes that help the virus gain entry to the host cell. The core of the virus contains two strands of RNA and three enzymes that instruct the host cell to create more HIV.
EPSILON15 bacteriophage
Epsilon15 is a virus that attacks the Salmonella bacterium that infects food, and causes food poisoning. Viruses such as Epsilon15, which attack bacteria (bacteriophages) may become very useful to humanity in the future as bacteria become increasingly resistant to antibiotics, and new tools are needed to fight them.
Epsilon15 consists of a protein capsid with a protein tail. Inside the capsid is the nucleic acid material, which in this case is double-stranded DNA. This sounds very simple, but actually the structure of this virus is rather complicated as its shell is an icosahedral (20-sided) shape with a tail and tail spikes, and within the shell is a core containing coils of DNA.
CORONAVIRUSES
Coronaviruses are common viruses that cause respiratory infections, and SARS is the most deadly of these. It contains RNA as its nuclear material, and like all other RNA viruses it mutates quickly, but in this case part of the RNA remains unchanged and appears to never mutate.
ASTROVIRUSES
Astroviruses cause mild gastroenteritis, especially in young children. They also affect many other species. They are named astro viruses because they look like stars with five or six points when viewed by electron microscope. They contain single-stranded RNA.
ROTAVIRUSES
Rotaviruses are the leading cause of childhood diarrhoea and gastroenteritis, and they are responsible for the deaths of millions of young children each year in Third World countries. They are icosahedral (20-sided) and contain RNA.
There are many other kinds of virus, some more deadly than others, and it is a fascinating area of study.
Major references include the following:
Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v439/n7076/full /nature04487.html
Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/0501060 92416.htm
Avert: http://www.avert.org/virus.htm
Microbe world: http://www.microbeworld.org/microbes/virus/