Virus mnemonic

Do you know viruses have various shapes?
The simple viruses are either icosahedral or helical.

Cool and important fact:
Icosahedral viruses can either be simply a naked caspid virus or it can be an enveloped caspid virus.
But if a virus is helical, it HAS to be enveloped and surrounded by a nice lipid bilayer (mostly derived from the host cell membrane)

How I remember that helical viruses are always enveloped is:
Think of our DNA!
We have a helical structure.. So the helical viruses can not survive without our cell membranes.
Helical virus forms can not be naked.

I know it's stupid but it makes life easy for me < 3

If you want to stuff your hippocampus with some other facts:
Enveloped DNA viruses – Herpes, Hepatitis B and Poxvirus.
All other DNA viruses are non-enveloped.

All RNA viruses are enveloped except PCR (Picorna, Calcivirus, Reovirus)

Coool.. So all these RNA guys are enveloped and have different shapes?
Yes! There is a generalization to this rule too..

All (─) RNA viruses are Helical shaped except Reovirus.
Mnemonic:
See the  ─ in |─|
(Horizontal line in the middle of H tells you that it's negative)

The negative sense RNA viruses are:
Bunyavirus, Paramyxovirus, Rhabdovirus, Orthomyxovirus, Filovirus, Deltavirus, Arenavirus.
Mnemonic:
Bunnies Myxed with Rhabies Are Thought (Ortho) to Fight in the Delta Arena.
Bunnies dying is always a negative thing T_T

The negative sense RNA viruses mnemonic

All (+) RNA viruses are Icosahedral shaped except Corona virus.
Mnemonic:
See the | in I
(Vertical line in I tells you that it's positive)

The positive sense RNA viruses are:
Togavirus, Flavovirus, Coronavirus, Retrovirus, Picornavirus.
Mnemonic:
Revealing a Toga while sipping Flavored Corona can lead to a Retro Picorno.
Sex is always a positive thing xP

Just saying :D

I also keep forgetting the names of the Picorna viruses
So I made this illustration to remember -
A rhino offering popcorn (picorna) to a cock who is screaming "Aaaa" while standing on a pole. The "Aaaa" is echoing back.
Rhinovirus, Coxsackie virus, Hepatitis A virus, Polio virus, Echovirus.
Rhino offering popcorn is a positive thing :)

Picorna virus mnemonic - Rhinovirus, Coxsackie virus, Hepatitis A virus, Polio virus, Echovirus.

Do you know about the famous singers Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z? Whether or not you like them, think of them as viruses - Polyoma virus! BK and JC! This mnemonic was submitted by Thomas.

That's all!
-IkaN

Related posts:
Parvovirus B19 (Erythema infectiosum) mnemonics
Viral inclusion bodies mnemonic
How I remember that Norwalk virus is a Calcivirus that causes gastroenteritis