Question

What is the difference between a virus and an obligate intracellular bacteria?

Answer 1

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites which cannot live without the host cell. The obligate intracellular bacteria also cannot live without the host cell. Both of them require an obligate presence of host cell to survive.

Both of them cannot be cultured on nutrient media but can be cultured and isolated from their host cell.

The metabolism of infecting a host cell is similar for both of them.

The differences between the two are -

Viruses are non cellular entities whereas obligate intracellular Bacteria is a cellular organism.

The outermost covering in viruses is made up of a protein capsid whereas in bacteria it is cell wall of sugars.

Viruses have either RNA or DNA as the genetic material but obligate intracellular bacteria always have DNA as the genetic material.

Viruses incorporate their genome into the host cell but the obligate intracellular bacteria does not.

Before writing the differences, I have written the similarities because they will help you to understand the relationship between viruses and obligate intracellular bacteria in a better way.

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