picornavirus

English

Particles of polio virus. Those that look empty lack the RNA without which they are not functional.

Etymology

The name "picornavirus" has a dual etymology. Firstly, the name derives from picorna- which is an acronym for "poliovirus, insensitivity to ether, coxsackievirus, orphan virus, rhinovirus, and ribonucleic acid". Secondly, the name derives from pico-, which designates a very small unit of measurement (equivalent to 10⁻¹²), combined with rna to describe this group of very small RNA viruses.; pico- +‎ RNA + virus

Noun

picornavirus (plural picornaviruses)

1. Any of the family Picornaviridae of RNA viruses, many of which are pathogenic, causing diseases such as polio, foot-and-mouth disease, and many varieties of the common cold.
   • 2010, Ellie Ehrenfeld et al., The Picornaviruses, American Society for Microbiology Press, →ISBN:

     Historically, interest in virology developed because these tiny microbes caused significant human and veterinary disease. One picornavirus, foot-and-mouth disease virus, was the first animal disease virus discovered; it was identified by Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosch in 1898 as a filterable, infectious agent that caused the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease. The discovery of poliovirus as the etiologic agent of poliomyelitis was reported 11 years later by Karl Landsteiner and Edwin Popper...

Derived terms

• picornaviral
• picornavirologist
• picornavirology

 

Descendants

• Translingual: Picornaviridae, Picornavirales

Translations

RNA virus of the family Picornaviridae

• Finnish: pikornavirus

References

• “picornavirus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• picornavirus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Picornaviridae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Picornaviridae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Spanish

Noun

picornavirus m (plural picornavirus)

1. picornavirus