If the virus is a foreign invader, how is it possible for the proteins of its capsid to match the receptors on the host cell’s surface? Consider natural selection in your answer.

Virus and host  

Explanation:

A single viral particle called  virion is made up of genetic material surrounded by a protein shell called a  capsidCapsids can have different shapes,in some viruses the capsid itself is  surrounded by a lipid envelope which is the protective outer coat  of a virus A virus identifies its  host by fitting its surface proteins to receptor molecules on the surface of the  host cell, like a key fitting a lockGeneral Pathways of Viral Infection  includes a lytic infection which results in the lysis or breaking apart of the host cell and  release of new viral particlesA lysogenic infection does not destroy the  host cellA lytic infection is an infection pathway in which the host cell  bursts releasing the new viral offspring into the host’s system, where each  then infects another cellWhen the viral DNA enters the host cell, it takes over control of the host’s  own DNA, turning on the genes necessary to copy the viral genes Under direction of the viral genes, the host’s DNA undergoes transcription  and translation, and produces capsids and enzymes The enzymes then  help in the copying of the virus’s DNAUsing energy from the host cell, the capsids and viral DNA assemble into  new virionsIn a lysogenic infection a phage combines its DNA into  the host cell’s DNAAfter entering the host cell, the viral DNA combines with the host’s DNA,  forming a new set of genes called a prophageA prophage is the phage  DNA inserted into the host cell’s DNA. In organisms other than bacteria,  this stage is called a provirusThe prophage is copied and passed to daughter cells, with the host’s own  DNA, when the host cell undergoes mitosis