Consider the following statements:Adenoviruses have single-stranded DNA genomes whereas retroviruses

Q: What is UPSC Prelims?

UPSC Prelims is a competitive examination conducted in India. This question is from the 2021 UPSC Prelims Current Affairs paper.

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This UPSC Prelims 2021 Current Affairs question has a hard difficulty level and is marked as an important question.

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Question

Consider the following statements:Adenoviruses have single-stranded DNA genomes whereas retroviruses have double-stranded DNA genomes.Common cold is sometime caused by an adenovirus whereas AIDS is caused by a retrovirus.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

Correct Answer: B — 2 onlyStep-by-step Solution:Statement 1: Incorrect. Adenoviruses have double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genomes, not single-stranded. Retroviruses have RNA genomes (single-stranded), but they convert RNA to double-stranded DNA using reverse transcriptase — their genome is RNA, not ssDNA. ✗Statement 2: Correct. Common cold can be caused by adenoviruses (among other viruses like rhinoviruses, coronaviruses). AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which is a retrovirus. ✓Why other options are incorrect:Option A (1 only): Statement 1 is false.Option C (Both): Statement 1 is false.Option D (Neither): Statement 2 is true.Key Concept: Virus classification by genome: dsDNA (adenovirus, herpes), ssDNA (parvovirus), dsRNA (rotavirus), ssRNA (+) (polio, coronavirus), ssRNA (-) (influenza, Ebola), and retroviruses (ssRNA with reverse transcriptase). HIV is a lentivirus (subfamily of retroviruses).

Consider the following statements:Adenoviruses have single-stranded DNA genomes whereas retroviruses have double-stranded DNA genomes.Common cold is sometime caused by an adenovirus whereas AIDS is caused by a retrovirus.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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Consider the following statements:Adenoviruses have single-stranded DNA genomes whereas retroviruses have double-stranded DNA genomes.Common cold is sometime caused by an adenovirus whereas AIDS is caused by a retrovirus.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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