virions

Virions are the smallest units of the viruses. They are able to infect the host and multiply in it.

Virions - virus particles - consist of two or three parts:

1. the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry genetic information
2. a protein coat that protects these genes;
3. and in some cases an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell.