180k views
0 votes
Enveloped virions are usually released upon cell lysis?
1) True
2) False

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

The assertion that enveloped virions are usually released by cell lysis is false. They often exit the host cell via budding, using the host's plasma membrane to form their viral envelope, which allows for continued host cell survival and viral propagation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Enveloped virions are not usually released by cell lysis, this statement is false. Unlike non-enveloped viruses, which may accumulate in an infected cell until it undergoes lysis or apoptosis, releasing all progeny virions at once, enveloped viruses can leave the host cell individually through a process called budding. During budding, enveloped virions acquire a piece of the host cell's plasma membrane, which becomes the viral envelope. This allows them to exit without necessarily destroying the cell.

Influenza virus, for example, is one such enveloped virus, which through this mechanism can exit the host cell while keeping it alive. This is beneficial for the virus as it allows the host cell to continue to produce viral components for new virions. The host cell's destruction is, therefore, not a requisite for the release of enveloped virions, distinguishing their life cycle from the lytic cycle more commonly associated with non-enveloped viruses.

Ultimately, non-enveloped viruses often depend on the host cell's lysis for release, whereas enveloped viruses may use budding, a less destructive form of exit, to spread and infect further cells.

User Jariq
by
8.2k points