The Case for Studying New Viruses of New Hosts

Abstract

Virology has largely focused on viruses that are pathogenic to humans or to the other species that we care most about. There is no doubt that this has been a worthwhile investment. But many transformative advances have been made through the in-depth study of relatively obscure viruses that do not appear on lists of prioritized pathogens. In this review, I highlight the benefits that can accrue from the study of viruses and hosts off the beaten track. I take stock of viral sequence diversity across host taxa as an estimate of the bias that exists in our understanding of host-virus interactions. I describe the gains that have been made through the metagenomic discovery of thousands of new viruses in previously unsampled hosts as well as the limitations of metagenomic surveys. I conclude by suggesting that the study of viruses that naturally infect existing and emerging model organisms represents an opportunity to push virology forward in useful and hard to predict ways. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Virology, Volume 9 is September 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Galbut Virus Infection Minimally Influences Drosophila melanogaster Fitness Traits in a Strain and Sex-Dependent Manner

“…However, beyond sequence description and phylogenetic placement, little is known about the biological impact of all of these newly recognized viruses. Follow-up virological studies that build upon this trove of sequence data are needed [ 4 , 28 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. The ability to study a highly successful natural virus of a premier model organism represents a great opportunity to shed light on insect-infecting partitiviruses and persistent viral infections more generally.…”

Innate Immunity in Cardiovascular Diseases – Identification of Novel Molecular Players and Targets

“…While this has been well known for decades [240][241][242], recent research employing novel research tools [243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251][252][253] has uncovered interactions between brain and immune system at unprecedented resolution. Similiarly, advanced molecular genetic methods [182,[254][255][256][257][258][259] contributed to elucidate mechanistic pathways linking the GIT microbiome to the systemic innate immune response with its impact upon cardiovascular [260,261] and neurological diseases [262,263]. Below we try to assess the clinical translational status of these research fields, focusing on therapeutic modulation of stress-induced disturbed brain -immune system interactions (section 4.1), and of the GIT microbiome and its products (section 4.2).…”

Innate Immunity in Cardiovascular Diseases – Identification of Novel Molecular Players and Targets

“…While this has been well known for decades [214][215][216], recent research employing novel research tools [217][218][219][220][221][222][223][224][225][226]248] has uncovered interactions between brain and immune system at unprecedented resolution. Similiarly, advanced molecular genetic methods [181,[227][228][229][230][231][232] contributed to elucidate mechanistic pathways linking the GIT microbiome to the systemic innate immune response with its impact upon cardiovascular [233,234] and neurological diseases [235,236]. Below we try to assess the clinical translational status of these research fields, focusing on therapeutic modulation of stress-induced disturbed brain -immune system interactions (section 4.1), and of the GIT microbiome and its products (section 4.2).…”

“…These had natural microbiota and pathogens at all body sites while retaining the well-defined and tractable genetics of the parent inbred strain. The bacterial microbiome, mycobiome, and virome [181,[227][228][229][230][231][232] of "wildlings" affected their immune landscape in multiple organs. Their gut microbiota outcompeted lab strain microbiota and proved resilient to environmental challenge.…”