Difference Between Plant Virus and Animal Virus

The key difference between plant virus and animal virus is that the plant virus is an intracellular parasite that infects plants while the animal virus is an intracellular parasite that infects animal tissues.

A virus is an obligate intracellular parasite that lives inside a host organism. DNA or RNA genome enclosed in a protein coat constitute the viruses. Moreover, viruses are very small particles visible only under the electron microscope. They are infectious and cause various diseases to host organism. They come in different shapes. Based on the types of host cells or organisms, there are different types of viruses as plant viruses, animal viruses, bacteriophages, fungal viruses, protists viruses, etc. However, this article mainly focuses on the difference between plant virus and animal virus.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Plant Virus 
3. What is Animal Virus
4. Similarities Between Plant Virus and Animal Virus
5. Side by Side Comparison – Plant Virus vs Animal Virus in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is a Plant Virus?

Plant virus is a virus that infects a plant. Therefore, a plant virus lives in a plant while keeping the plant as its host organism. As a result of the virus, plants get diseases. Tobacco ringspot, watermelon mosaic, barley yellow dwarf, potato mop top, citrus tristeza, sugar beet curly top, lettuce mosaic, maize dwarf mosaic, potato leaf roll, peach yellow bud mosaic, African cassava mosaic, carnation streak, and tomato spotted wilt are some plant viral diseases. Most plant viruses possess a single-stranded RNA genome. Moreover, most of them are rod-shaped viruses. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), potato virus Y (PVY), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), tomato spotted wilt virus, and bean common mosaic viruses are some examples of plant viruses.

Plant viruses are transmitted from one plant to the other through  plant sap by different vectors such as insects and nematodes and through pollen. Therefore, this is a horizontal transmission. Thus, horizontal transmission causes the spread of the virus disease among different plants. At the same time, plant viruses can be spread from parent plant to offspring plant through vertical transmission.

What is an Animal Virus?

An animal virus is a virus or an intracellular parasite that infects animal cells. Thus, animal viruses use human and other animals as their host organisms. Most animal viruses contain a double-stranded DNA genome. Hepatitis C virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), adenovirus, rotavirus, poliovirus, influenza virus, herpes simplex virus, arbovirus and coronavirus are some examples of animal viruses.

When they infect animal cells, different types of diseases occur. AIDS is one of the most serious diseases caused by an animal virus called the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Furthermore, animal viruses can also cause common diseases like smallpox, herpes, measles, rabies, chickenpox, chikungunya, foot and mouth disease, yellow fever and dengue, influenza, polio, hepatitis A, and African horse sickness, etc.

Moreover, some animal viruses are oncogenic viruses. They have the capability of causing cancers. Hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus are examples of oncogenic viruses.

What are the Similarities Between Plant Virus and Animal Virus?

• Both plant virus and animal virus are intracellular obligate parasites.
• They live within a host cell.
• Moreover, they have either DNA or RNA genomes.
• Both types of viruses cause various diseases.
• Furthermore, their genomes can either be single-stranded or double-stranded.
• Also, both can either be naked or enveloped.

What is the Difference Between Plant Virus and Animal Virus?

Plant viruses use a plant as their host organism while animal viruses use an animal as their host organism. So, this is the key difference between plant virus and animal virus. Furthermore, many plant viruses possess a single-stranded RNA genome, while many animal viruses possess a double-stranded DNA genome.

The following infographic provides more comparisons related to the difference between plant virus and animal virus.

Summary – Plant Virus vs Animal Virus

Plant viruses infect plants, causing different diseases. In contrast, animal viruses infect animals and human causing different viral diseases. So the host of plant viruses is a plant while the host of animal viruses is an animal. So, this is the key difference between plant virus and animal virus. Furthermore, most plant viruses have a single-stranded RNA genome, while most animal viruses possess a double-stranded DNA genome. Moreover, plant viruses enter their host through a wound or a hole while animal viruses enter their host through endocytosis. Thus, this summarizes the difference between plant virus and animal virus.

Reference:

1. “Biology for Majors II.” Lumen, Available here.
2.“Animal & Human Viruses.” Khan Academy, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Tobacco mosaic virus structure” By Y_tambe – Y_tambe’s file (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “HIV” By BruceBlaus – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia