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Entry by fusion of the viral coat with the plasma membrane is open to which viruses?
AOnly those with a helical capsid
BOnly those with a DNA genome
COnly those that infect bacteria
DOnly those that carry an envelope
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Only those that carry an envelope
1. Animal viruses enter cells either by receptor-mediated endocytosis or by fusion.
2. Both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses can use receptor-mediated endocytosis.
3. Fusion occurs only with enveloped virions, because it needs special fusion proteins sitting in the envelope.
4. HIV is one of the viruses that enters this way, releasing genome and capsid into the cytoplasm.
5. Capsid symmetry and genome chemistry do not decide whether fusion is possible, so those options miss the point.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 21 "Viruses", section 21.2 Virus Infections and Hosts_
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