Final answer:
After viral entry into the host cell via endocytosis, the vesicle releases the virus, the capsid is degraded, and the viral DNA or RNA is freed for replication. The host machinery replicates the viral genetic material and produces viral proteins, allowing new viruses to assemble. These new viruses then exit the cell either by cell lysis or by budding, potentially wreaking havoc on the host tissue.
Step-by-step explanation:
After a virus enters a host cell through endocytosis, the vesicle membrane that contains the virus fuses with lysosomes or the contents are released into the cytoplasm. This leads to the degradation of the viral capsid, a protein shell surrounding the viral genome. The viral nucleic acid is then exposed and available for the next stage of infection, which is replication and transcription of the viral material within the host cell's machinery.
Following replication, the newly formed viral components assemble into complete virus particles, a process referred to as viral assembly. The assembly of new virions can lead to the production of an enzyme that breaks down the host cell wall, allowing the viruses to exit the host cell. This release can be through lysis, where the host cell is destroyed, or via budding, which does not necessarily kill the host cell immediately and is typical of viruses like HIV that acquire a fragment of the host cell membrane to form an envelope around the new viral particles.