How do bacteria differ from viruses in structure and replication?

How do bacteria differ from viruses in structure and replication?

• A. Bacteria are noncellular particles; viruses are living cells with a cell wall and ribosomes.
• B. Bacteria are living cells with a cell wall and ribosomes; viruses are noncellular particles requiring a host to replicate.
• C. Bacteria contain mitochondria; viruses contain chloroplasts.
• D. Viruses can reproduce on their own.

Answer: (B)

Understanding the difference between bacteria and viruses in structure and replication helps explain why bacteria are living cells with their own machinery while viruses are noncellular particles that must hijack a host. Bacteria are living cells. They have a cell membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, and a cell wall, and they can carry out metabolism, grow, and reproduce on their own. They don’t need a host to replicate because they have the cellular machinery to transcribe and translate their genes and to divide. Viruses, on the other hand, are not cells. They consist of genetic material (DNA or RNA) inside a protein coat, and sometimes a lipid envelope. They lack the full set of cellular machinery for metabolism and protein synthesis, so they cannot reproduce by themselves. To replicate, a virus must infect a living cell and use that host cell’s enzymes and ribosomes to produce viral components and assemble new viruses. The other statements mix up these facts, describing viruses as living cells with a cell wall or implying bacteria lack cellular structure, or suggesting viruses can reproduce independently. None of those fit the true nature of how these two types of infectious agents are built and reproduce.

Understanding the difference between bacteria and viruses in structure and replication helps explain why bacteria are living cells with their own machinery while viruses are noncellular particles that must hijack a host.

Bacteria are living cells. They have a cell membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, and a cell wall, and they can carry out metabolism, grow, and reproduce on their own. They don’t need a host to replicate because they have the cellular machinery to transcribe and translate their genes and to divide.

Viruses, on the other hand, are not cells. They consist of genetic material (DNA or RNA) inside a protein coat, and sometimes a lipid envelope. They lack the full set of cellular machinery for metabolism and protein synthesis, so they cannot reproduce by themselves. To replicate, a virus must infect a living cell and use that host cell’s enzymes and ribosomes to produce viral components and assemble new viruses.

The other statements mix up these facts, describing viruses as living cells with a cell wall or implying bacteria lack cellular structure, or suggesting viruses can reproduce independently. None of those fit the true nature of how these two types of infectious agents are built and reproduce.