Keeping Track of Viruses

Murray, Catherine L.; Oh, Thomas S.; Rice, Charles M.

This chapter reviews methods of isolating, identifying, and tracking viruses with potential applications to microbial forensic investigations. Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on earth. These obligate parasites infect every form of life, from archaea and eubacteria to fungi, plants, and animals. Viruses play key roles in global ecology—they form a vast reservoir of genetic diversity, influence the composition and evolution of host populations, and affect the cycling of chemical compounds through the environment. Research has focused on the tiny fraction that causes disease in humans, domestic animals, and crops; sequencing surveys have suggested that the majority of viruses are completely unknown. The ability of viruses to jump species barriers, move between habitats, and circle the globe rapidly underscores the importance of continued vigilance for naturally emerging or deliberately engineered outbreaks. Viruses are extremely simple “life” forms without metabolic capacity, organelles, translational machinery, or autonomous replicative potential. Virus particles constitute a minimal set of components, primarily those required to deliver the genome to the target cell and initiate replication. Consequently, virus particles (or virions) are extremely small, most in the range of 20 to 200 nm in diameter. Virions are diverse not only in size but also in composition, morphology, and genome characteristics. Virus particles may be irregular in shape or possess a distinct symmetry, such as helical or icosahedral. Particles may be surrounded by a host-derived membrane, termed “enveloped,” or a tight protein shell, termed “nonenveloped.”