Electron Microscopy in Discovery of Novel and Emerging Viruses from the Collection of the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses (WRCEVA)

Popov, Vsevolod L.; Tesh, Robert B.; Weaver, Scott C.; Vasilakis, Nikos

Since the beginning of modern virology in the 1950s, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been an important and widely used technique for discovery, identification and characterization of new viruses. Using TEM, viruses can be differentiated by their ultrastructure: shape, size, intracellular location and for some viruses, by the ultrastructural cytopathic effects and/or specific structures forming in the host cell during their replication. Ultrastructural characteristics are usually sufficient for the identification of a virus to the family level. In this review, we summarize 25 years of experience in identification of novel viruses from the collection of the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses (WRCEVA).