Build Your Own Virus

Dr. Danielle Winget, Ph.D.

Want to have a virus of your very own? Follow these 8 easy steps.
Ingredients:
4 pipe cleaners
4 drinking straws
Scissors
1. Cut each straw into three 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces.
2. Hold the 4 pipe cleaners together in a bundle in your hand.
3. Twist together all 4 pipe cleaners until you have about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of twisted
material (Fig. 1). This will be your virus!s nucleic acid viral genome which
contains all the virus! genes.
4. Bend the un-twisted ends of the pipe cleaners so the ends point straight up with
the twisted piece in the middle of the longer pieces (Fig.2).
Figure 2. Bend the free ends of the pipe
cleaners up around the twisted ends.
Figure 1. Twist together all 4 pipe cleaners until
you have about 1 inch or 2.5 cm of twisted
material.
5. Thread three, 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces of straw onto each pipe cleaner (Fig. 3).
6. Twist together the ends of all the pipe cleaners just below the last straw pieces to
create your virus!s tail (Fig. 4). Twist as many times as you like the more twists,
the longer the virus tail you will create.
7. Press down on the top of the virus where the nucleic acid meets the straw pieces
to expand the viral head into an icosahedral shape (Fig. 5) to make the viral
capsid. Your nucleic acid should hang down inside the straw pieces. You can
bend the pipe cleaners between the straw
pieces to create a more dened viral capsid
shape.
8. Bend the remaining non-twisted pipe-cleaner
ends at the end of your tail to allow it to stand.
These bent ends are your virus!s tail bers
(Fig. 5 white arrow).
Class Exercises
Viral Genomes
1. Note the color of your viral genome (the
color(s) of the pipe-cleaners).
2. If it is only one color (pipe-cleaners are all the
same color), the virus has a single-stranded
DNA or single stranded RNA genome.
3. If it is two colors (two different colors of pipe-
cleaners), the virus has double-stranded DNA
or double stranded RNA genome.
4. If it is more than two colors (three or four
colors of pipe-cleaners), the virus has picked
up additional DNA from its host or other co-
infecting viruses and is a new virus strain!
Figure 4. Twist together the ends of all the pipe
cleaners just below the last straw pieces.
Figure 3. Thread three pieces of straw onto
each pipe cleaner. Two of the four pipe
cleaners have straw pieces in this picture.
Figure 5. Press down on the top of
the virus where the nucleic acid
meets the straw pieces to expand
the viral head into an icosahedral
shape.
5. Compare viral genomes look around you!
a. Does another virus have the same color genome (pipe-cleaners) as you?
If so, your viruses have the same genome!
b. Does the virus with the same genome have the same straw colors and
arrangement?
i. If yes (same exact pattern of straws & pipe-cleaners), it is the same
virus species!
ii. If no (any difference in straws or pipe-cleaners), the viruses are
different at either the genome or protein level.
c. Scientists expect to see lots of differences between viral genomes, which
mirrors the enormous diversity of viruses in the environment.
Viral Tail Lengths
Note: This activity requires a ruler.
1.Note the length of your virus!s tail (the length of
the portion of twisted pipe-cleaners below the viral
capsid).
2.If it is really, really short - less than 2 centimeters
in length, it can be classied as a Podoviridae or
short-tailed virus.
3.If it is a little bit longer - 2-7 centimeters in length,
it can be classied as a Myoviridae or medium
length-tailed virus.
4.If it is really, really long - greater than 7
centimeters in length with very short tail bers, it
can be classied as a Siphoviridae or long-tailed
virus.
5.Compare viral tail lengths -look around you
a.How many students have the same or a very
similar tail length as you?
b.Determine which type of virus (Podo-, Myo-, or
Siphoviridae) is the most and least abundant in your
group.
Transmission electron microscope images of a)
Podoviridae, b) Myoviridae, and c) Siphoviridae.
This example of a Podoviridae (a) was found in
Chesapeake Bay sediments by R.R. Helton. The
Myoviridae (b) is an inducible lysogenic virus
isolated from Evesboro soil at the University of
Delaware!s Agricultural Experimental Station in
Georgetown, DE. The Siphoviridae (c) is an
inducible lysogenic virus isolated from a Bacillus
spp., a Matapeake soil bacteria from the University
of Delaware!s Agricultural Experimental Station in
Newark, DE. K. E. Williamson isolated both b & c.
Images courtesy of a) R.R. Helton, b) & c) K.E.
Williamson.