Summarizing Other Acellular Entities: Prions and Viroids

Summary

Prions are infectious agents that consist of protein, but no DNA or RNA, and seem to produce their deadly effects by duplicating their shapes and accumulating in tissues. They are thought to contribute to several progressive brain disorders, including mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Viroids are single-stranded RNA pathogens that infect plants. Their presence can have a severe impact on the agriculture industry.

Glossary

pathogen

agent with the ability to cause disease

prion

infectious particle that consists of proteins that replicate without DNA or RNA

PrP^c

normal prion protein

PrP^sc

infectious form of a prion protein

viroid

plant pathogen that produces only a single, specific RNA