A test of the poliovirus endgame
The global withdrawal of the Sabin type 2 poliovirus vaccine is a test of the feasibility of the plan, declared by the World Health Assembly in 1988, to eradicate all polioviruses.
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Planaria and mollusks yield the biggest RNA virus genomes
The development of high throughput nucleic acid sequencing tools has rapidly increased the pace of virus discovery in the past 20 years. Yet in that time, while the largest DNA genomes have increased by nearly ten times, the largest known RNA viral genome has only increase in size by a tenth. This situation has now …
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Viral glycoproteins are not always randomly distributed
The membranes of enveloped viruses contain embedded proteins that are essential for attaching to cell receptors and fusing with cell membranes. We generally view these glycoproteins as evenly distributed over the surface of the virus particle, as illustrated for influenza virus. But many more envelope glycoproteins are involved in attachment and entry of larger viruses, …
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A lytic bacterium that behaves like a virus
What do you call a small bacterium that acts like a virus, infecting and lysing eukaryotic cells? Chromulinavvorax destructans, of course! As part of a study to identify pathogens that infect protist zooplankton, particles smaller than 0.8 microns were obtained from freshwater habitats in southwestern British Columbia, and used to infect cultures of protists.
Herpesviruses and Alzheimer’s Disease
Risk factors for the chronic neurodegenerative condition known as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) include many cellular genes and pathogenic microbes. Nucleic acids of two ubiquitous human herpesviruses, HHV-6A and HHV-7, have been found at higher levels in AD brains compared with healthy controls, and appear to regulate genes implicated in risk of developing the disease.
Maternal Immunization for RSV
By Gertrud U. Rey Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of respiratory illness, including bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in the young, elderly, and immunocompromised. RSV poses a substantial public health threat due to its association with severe morbidity and mortality in infants and premature babies.