Viruses: Essential Agents of Life

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Revolutionary Struggle for Existence: Introduction to Four Intriguing Puzzles in Virus Research

   • Matti Jalasvuori

   Pages 1-19

3. Quasispecies Dynamics of RNA Viruses

   • Miguel Angel Martínez, Gloria Martrus, Elena Capel, Mariona Parera, Sandra Franco, Maria Nevot

   Pages 21-42

4. The Origin of Virions and Virocells: The Escape Hypothesis Revisited

   • Patrick Forterre, Mart Krupovic

   Pages 43-60

5. Scratching the Surface of Biology’s Dark Matter

   • Merry Youle, Matthew Haynes, Forest Rohwer

   Pages 61-81

6. Virus Universe: Can It Be Constructed from a Limited Number of Viral Architectures

   • Hanna M. Oksanen, Maija K. Pietilä, Ana Sencilo, Nina S. Atanasova, Elina Roine, Dennis H. Bamford

   Pages 83-105

7. The Addiction Module as a Social Force

   • Luis P. Villarreal

   Pages 107-145

8. Viral Integration and Consequences on Host Gene Expression

   • Sébastien Desfarges, Angela Ciuffi

   Pages 147-175

9. Persistent Plant Viruses: Molecular Hitchhikers or Epigenetic Elements?

   • Marilyn J. Roossinck

   Pages 177-186

10. The Concept of Virus in the Post-Megavirus Era

    • Jean-Michel Claverie, Chantal Abergel

    Pages 187-202

11. Unpacking the Baggage: Origin and Evolution of Giant Viruses

    • Jonathan Filée, Michael Chandler

    Pages 203-216

12. Megavirales Composing a Fourth Domain of Life: Mimiviridae and Marseilleviridae

    • Philippe Colson, Didier Raoult

    Pages 217-244

13. On Viruses, Bats and Men: A Natural History of Food-Borne Viral Infections

    • Harald Brüssow

    Pages 245-267

14. LTR Retroelement-Derived Protein-Coding Genes and Vertebrate Evolution

    • Domitille Chalopin, Marta Tomaszkiewicz, Delphine Galiana, Jean-Nicolas Volff

    Pages 269-282

15. Koala Retrovirus Endogenisation in Action

    • Rachael E. Tarlinton

    Pages 283-291

16. The Evolutionary Interplay Between Exogenous and Endogenous Sheep Betaretroviruses

    • Alessia Armezzani, Lita Murphy, Thomas E. Spencer, Massimo Palmarini, Frédérick Arnaud

    Pages 293-307

17. Endogenous Retroviruses and the Epigenome

    • Andrew B. Conley, I. King Jordan

    Pages 309-323

18. From Viruses to Genes: Syncytins

    • Philippe Pérot, Pierre-Adrien Bolze, François Mallet

    Pages 325-361

19. Hepatitis G Virus or GBV-C: A Natural Anti-HIV Interfering Virus

    • Omar Bagasra, Muhammad Sheraz, Donald Gene Pace

    Pages 363-388

20. Salutary Contributions of Viruses to Medicine and Public Health

    • Stephen T. Abedon

    Pages 389-405

A renaissance of virus research is taking centre stage in biology. Empirical data from the last decade indicate the important roles of viruses, both in the evolution of all life and as symbionts of host organisms. There is increasing evidence that all cellular life is colonized by exogenous and/or endogenous viruses in a non-lytic but persistent lifestyle. Viruses and viral parts form the most numerous genetic matter on this planet.

• persistence of viruses
• viral infection driven evolution of cellular life
• virus abundance
• virus life styles
• virus parts as regulation models of cellular genes

“Viruses: Essential Agents of life … is a great way to kick off the next 100 years of virology, with nary a reductionist thought to be found within its 427 pages. … readers will find many exciting reasons to be a virologist (amateur or professional) at the dawn of the 21st century.” (Welkin Johnson, Small Things Considered, schaechter.asmblog.org, January, 2013)

“It is a compilation of 19 chapters, each written by one or more experts, and each comprising an overview, or opinion or essay on a different facet of the general theme. … this book offers a topically relevant compendium for biologists, evolutionary biologists, geneticists and molecular biologists interested in how viruses have contributed to host evolution and, perhaps, even to the origins of life on Earth.” (Frank Ryan, Symbiosis, Vol. 60, 2013)

• Telos - Philosophische Praxis, Bürmoos, Austria

  Günther Witzany