CHINHOYI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

BIOTECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

NAME DUMISANI NGUNI (C15124868X)

COURSE CODE CUBT 403

MODULE NAME VIROLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 1

QUESTION: Discuss the three theories that has been put forward to explain the origin of
viruses [50].
Introduction
A virus is a biological agent that reproduces inside cells of living hosts. Unlike most living
things viruses do not have cells that divide. Viruses are the most abundant life forms and the
repertoire of viral genes is greater than that of cellular genes. It is also evident that viruses
have played a major role in driving cellular evolution, and yet, viruses are not part of
mainstream biology, nor are they included in the Tree of Life. A reason for this major
paradox in biology is the misleading dogma of viruses as viral particles and their enigmatic
evolutionary origin. Viruses can be defined as non-cellular organisms that cannot survive on
their own but reproduce themselves by using surrounding environments. There is much
debate among virologist at the origin of viruses like where exactly they came from? The main
hypothesis that have been formulated are progressive hypothesis, regressive hypothesis and
virus first hypothesis.

Although several hypotheses have been recently proposed to explain the origin of viruses, the
Emergence of virions, as a specific mechanism for gene dissemination, remains unexplained.
2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. Viruses are diverse entities. The evolution and origin of viruses
and how these processes could relate to the evolution of cellular life have stretched the
imagination of many biologists ever since viruses were first observed. Scientists look at fossil
records and similar historic evidence to understand the evolutionary history of most
organisms. However, viruses do not fossilize, probably because they are too small and too
fragile to withstand the process of fossilization. Since their discovery a century ago, viruses
have been conceptually identified with their viral particles and defined based on the
properties of these particles. The viral particles are highly specialized structures that are used
by many viruses for their transmission to new host cells [for comprehensive facts about
viruses and their life cycle. This role of viral particles in the viral life cycle explains their
particular properties, such as their apparent inert status or the presence of only one type of
nucleic acid - DNA or RNA. Many viruses, however, do not produce viral particles, using
alternative modes of transmission, such as vertical transmission from mother to daughter
cells. Clearly, the fundamental biological properties of all viruses, whether they do or do not
produce viral particles are expressed during the intracellular stage of the viral life cycle, when
viruses replicate their genome and synthesize their specific molecules, many of which are not
components of the viral particles. There are 3 common theories put forward to explain the
origins of viruses are:
Regressive Theory

 Viruses may have once been small cells that parasitized larger cells (the degeneracy
hypothesis or reduction hypothesis).

Progressive Theory

 Some viruses may have evolved from bits of DNA or RNA that "escaped" from
the genes of a larger organism (the vagrancy hypothesis or escape hypothesis).

Virus First Hypothesis

 Viruses could have evolved from complex molecules of protein and nucleic

acid before cells first appeared on earth (the virus-first hypothesis).

THE REGRESSIVE THEORY

This theory is also known as the degeneracy or reduction hypothesis, explaining the origin of
viruses by proposing that viruses evolved from free-living cells . It claims that viruses are
degenerate life forms that lost any functions and retained only genetic information required
for a parasitic way of life. This theory suggests that the formation of viruses might have
occurred due to reductive evolution. It claims that viruses might have started out as bacteria
and lost all their genes necessary to survive on their own up to the point when they become
intracellular parasites dependent upon their hosts to cater for the functions they lost.

Reductive evolution is not as common, but is supported. One particular group of viruses, the
nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), illustrate this hypothesis. Viruses which
belong to this group, for example the smallpox virus, poxvirus and giant of all viruses, mimi-
virus, are much bigger than most documented viruses (La Scola et al. 2003). As a result of
their size and complexity, some virologists have suggested that these viruses may be
descendants of more complex ancestors. In addition to their large size and complexity,
NCLDVs depend less on their host for replication than do the other viruses. The poxvirus
particles possess a large number of viral enzymes and related factors that enable the virus to
produce functional messenger RNA within the host’s cell cytoplasm. The mimivirus contains
a relatively large repertoire of putative genes associated with translation. These genes may be
remnants of a previously complete translation system. Interestingly, the mimivirus does not
vary much from parasitic bacteria like Rickettsia prowazekii and Chlamydia (Raoult et al.,
2004).

The bacteria Rickettsia and Chlamydia are said to be living cells which evolved from free
living ancestors of nucleocytoplasmic viruses. Like these viruses, these bacteria can only
reproduce inside host cells. They also lend support to this hypothesis, as their dependence on
parasitism likely led the loss of genes that facilitated their survival outside a host cell.
Genomic studies have shown that the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells and Rickettsia
prowazekii may share a common, free-living ancestor (Andersson et al. 1998). The
mitochondria are the best example of reductive evolution on a cellular level. Mitochondria
are organelles in eukaryotic cells that are responsible for the generation of most of the cell's
energy. Mitochondria are made up of multiple layers and membranes and possess their own
set of DNA which is handed down through maternal ties. As a result of their complex
structure and individual set of DNA, the mitochondria are believed to have been bacteria that
devolved to become an organelle (Andersson et al., 1998).

Many components of how this process might have occurred still remain mystery. Not much
evidence from currently existing cells shows that this type of transition is possible (UCSB
Science Line, 2011). The theory does not explain why even the smallest of cellular parasites
do not resemble viruses in any way. The regressive hypothesis predicts some similarity
between genes for viral structural proteins and cellular genes, yet such similarity has not been
observed except for cellular genes that have been incorporated into existing viruses.

PROGRESSIVE THEORY
It is also known as the escape or vagrancy hypothesis. This theory sets to explain the origin of
viruses by suggesting that viruses originated from RNA and DNA molecules that escaped
from a host cell. It claims that these mobile genetic elements gained the ability to exit one cell
and enter another (Lacey, 2012). The escaped genetic elements could have come from
plasmids or transposons (DNA molecules that replicate and move around to different
positions within a cell’s genome) which then gained a self-replicative but parasitic existence
(Collier, 1998). It is also called the escape theory. This theory states that viruses arose from
genetic elements that gained the ability to move between cells. The progressive theory is
supported by the replication of retroviruses. Julia,(2015).

Evidence is based on the ability of 42% of the human genome (retrotransposons) to move
within genome via RNA intermediates and integrate at another site (Lander et al. 2001). Once
termed "jumping genes", transposons are good examples of mobile genetic elements and
could have been the origin of some viruses (Shors, 2008). Acquisition of structural proteins
allows exit and entrance to cell (Lacey, 2012). The progressive hypothesis makes use of
retroviruses to support it. The single stranded RNA genome of retroviruses utilises a number
of enzymes to fuel reverse transcription and integration into the host's genome. The host cell's
RNA polymerase is then used to produce new copies of the virus's single-stranded RNA
genome. The progeny viruses then assemble and exit the cell to begin the whole process
again. Unlike retrotransposons which are limited to a single cell, retroviruses are capable of
budding from the host cell and move to another. Some scientists suggest that the acquisition
of a few structural proteins could allow the element to exit a cell and enter a new cell, thereby
becoming an infectious agent. The genetic structures of retroviruses and viral-like
retrotransposons show remarkable similarities (Lander et al., 2001).
The progressive hypothesis does not explain the complex capsids and other structures on
virus particles. Much like the regressive hypothesis, the progressive hypothesis predicts some
similarity between genes for viral structural proteins and cellular genes, yet such similarity
does not exist, except for cellular genes that have been incorporated into existing viruses
(Hendrix, 2000).

VIRUS FIRST HYPOTHESIS

The theory states that viruses predate or coevolved with their current cellular hosts. The
other name for the hypothesis is coevolution theory. Several investigators have proposed that
viruses have been the first replicating entities. Koonin and Martin (2005) postulated that
viruses existed in a precellular world as self –replicating units. With time it is said that the
units became more complex and more organized and finally enzymes for membrane and cell
wall synthesis evolved hence forming cells. It is also supported by Prangishvili, et.al, 2006
that viruses existed before bacteria, Achaea or eukaryotes. The coevolution theory claims
that viruses started out when proteins and genome material mixed and they have been living
for a long time infecting the living cells for replication. This theory simply proposes that
viruses started out as viruses when proteins and genetic material mixed and that these
particles have been living this way for billions of years, infecting living cells to replicate,
ever since life itself began (UCSB Science Line, 2011). Viruses could have originated from
genetic material that co-evolved with cellular organisms and became separated from the
cellular genome and eventually became more complex. This led to the development of the
virus particles known today. Koonin and Martin (2005) postulated that viruses existed in a
pre-cellular world as self-replicating units. Over time these units managed to become more
organized and more complex. Ultimately, enzymes responsible for the synthesis of
membranes and cell walls developed, leading to the formation of cells. Viruses may even
have existed before bacteria, archaea, or eukaryotes (Prangishvili et al., 2006).

Studies of some plant pathogens support this coevolution hypothesis. Viruses may have
originated as parasites, depending on their host for replication and survival, the same
principle they still use today. The virophage 'sputnik' is dependent on mimivirus. This virus
infects the protozoan Acanthamoebacastellanii (Collier et al., 1998).These viruses and their
host may have co-evoluted together since the beginning of time. Also, of note is the hepatitis
delta virus of humans which has an RNA genome similar to viroids but has a protein coat
derived from hepatitis B virus and cannot produce one of its own.

CONCLUSION

Researchers hope to one day better understand the origin of viruses, a discovery that could
lead to progress in the treatment of the ailments they produce. Answering the question of the
origins of viruses is not as easy as it seems. The evidence for an ancestral world of RNA cells
as well as computer analysis of viral and host DNA sequences are aiding in giving a better
understanding of the evolutionary relationships between different viruses. This may also help
identify the ancestors of modern viruses. However, to date, these analyses have not
determined which of these hypotheses is correct . Mobile genetic elements gained the ability
to travel between cells, becoming infectious agents. Some argue that viruses arose through a
regressive process in which once-independent entities lost essential genes over time and were
compelled to adopt a parasitic replication strategy. Finally, the idea that viruses gave rise to
life as we know it presents very intriguing possibilities. Perhaps the currently known viruses
arose multiple times, via multiple mechanisms. Perhaps all viruses arose via a mechanism yet
to be uncovered. Current basic research in fields such as microbiology, genomics,
bioinformatics and structural biology may provide us with answers to this basic question. As
technology advances, scientists may develop and refine further hypotheses to better explain
the origin of viruses.

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