Viruses: Molecular Biology, Host Interactions, and Applications to Biotechnology

Description

Viruses: Molecular Biology, Host Interactions, and Applications to Biotechnology provides an up-to-date introduction to human, animal and plant viruses within the context of recent advances in high-throughput sequencing that have demonstrated that viruses are vastly greater and more diverse than previously recognized. It covers discoveries such as the Mimivirus and its virophage which have stimulated new discussions on the definition of viruses, their place in the current view, and their inherent and derived ‘interactomics’ as defined by the molecules and the processes by which virus gene products interact with themselves and their host’s cellular gene products. Further, the book includes perspectives on basic aspects of virology, including the structure of viruses, the organization of their genomes, and basic strategies in replication and expression, emphasizing the diversity and versatility of viruses, how they cause disease and how their hosts react to such disease, and exploring developments in the field of host-microbe interactions in recent years. The book is likely to appeal, and be useful, to a wide audience that includes students, academics and researchers studying the molecular biology and applications of viruses

Key Features

• Provides key insights into recent technological advances, including high-throughput sequencing
• Presents viruses not only as formidable foes, but also as entities that can be beneficial to their hosts and humankind that are helping to shape the tree of life
• Features exposition on the diversity and versatility of viruses, how they cause disease, and an exploration of virus-host interactions

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: A Short History of Virology – Gustavo Fermin, Paula Tennant
2. Virion Structure, Genome Organization and Taxonomy of Viruses – Gustavo Fermin
3. Replication and Expression Strategies of Viruses – Sephra Rampersad, Paula Tennant
4. Origins and Evolution of Viruses – Jerome Foster, Gustavo Fermin
5. Host Range, Host-Virus Interactions and Virus Transmission – Gustavo Fermin
6. Viruses as Pathogens: Plant Viruses – Paula Tennant, Augustine Gubba, Marcia Roye, Gustavo Fermin
7. Viruses as Pathogens: Animal Viruses, with Emphasis on Human Viruses – Jerome Foster, José andrés Mendoza, Janine Seetahal
8. Viruses as Pathogens: Animal Viruses Affecting Wild and Domesticated Species – Jerome Foster
9. Viruses of Prokaryotes, Protozoa, Fungi and Chromista – Gustavo Fermin, Sudeshna Mazumdar-Leighton, Paula Tennant
10. Host-Virus Interactions: Battles Between Viruses and Their Hosts – Gustavo Fermin, Paula Tennant
11. Beneficial Interactions with Viruses – Paula Tennant, Gustavo Fermin
12. Viruses as Tools of Biotechnology: Therapeutic Agents, Carriers of Therapeutic Agents and Genes, Nanomaterials, and More – Gustavo Fermin, Sephra Rampersad, Paula Tennant
13. Viruses as Targets for Biotechnology: Diagnosis and Detection, Transgenesis and Rnai- and CRISPR/Cas Engineered Resistance – Paula Tennant, Gustavo Fermin
14. Concluding Thoughts: It’s A Viral World – Paula Tennant, Gustavo Fermin

Editors Biography

Paula Tennant
Dr. Tennant received her PhD from Cornell University were she also completed her postdoc prior to returning to Jamaica as a Professor within the Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies. She has been a Visiting Scientist at Cornell University, US Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, and Texas A&M and a visiting lecturer at the Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela. She has edited or co-edited 6 books and contributed chapters to an additional 7 volumes. She has received numerous awards, including Principal’s Award for the Best Publication, Principal’s Award for the Most Outstanding Researcher, HKA Career Hall of Fame Award, and Faculty’s Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Affiliations and Expertise
University of West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

Gustavo Fermin
Dr. Fermin completed his PhD at Cornell University and took positions at Cornell University and University of Hawaii and Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center before returning to Venezuela as a faculty member at Universidad de Los Andes. His research is within molecular biology and plant pathology with a focus on viral impacts. He has received the Regional Award in Exact and Natural Sciences and multiple Researcher’s Recognition awards for his work. He has authored or edited 12 monographs.

Affiliations and Expertise
Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela

Jerome Foster
Dr. Jerome Foster completed his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of the West indies, St. Augustine (2004). He pubished 14 articles on virology focusing on viruses in Trinidad and S. America.

Affiliations and Expertise
University of West-Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad