Virome genomics: a tool for defining the human virome

Abstract

High throughput, deep sequencing assays are powerful tools for gaining insights into virus-host interactions. Sequencing assays can discover novel viruses and describe the genomes of novel and known viruses. Genomic information can predict viral proteins that can be characterized, describe important genes in the host that control infections, and evaluate gene expression of viruses and hosts during infection. Sequencing can also describe variation and evolution of viruses during replication and transmission. This review recounts some of the major advances in the studies of virus-host interactions from the last two years, and discusses the uses of sequencing technologies relating to these studies.

Reconciling evidence-based medicine and precision medicine in the era of big data: challenges and opportunities

“…Proper consideration of this complex multicomponent partner—an integral element of our hologenome [67, 74], which, in addition to our own genome, includes our microbial flora as well as a largely unexplored viral component [75]—will enable a more global approach to human health. However, given the dynamic plasticity and complexity of the microbiome, the data needed to capture this information throughout an individual’s lifetime might be orders of magnitude larger than those required for our nuclear genome.…”

The relationships between environmental bacterial exposure, airway bacterial colonization, and asthma

“…The latter method has the advantages of more precise identification of bacteria, up to the sub-species level through identification of mutations, plasmids, or other horizontally transferred genes within a bacteria’s genome, identification of specific metabolic pathways and their abundance, and identification of other classes of microorganisms such as viruses and fungi. A detailed description of these culture independent techniques is provided elsewhere 11–14 .…”

Your Viral Past: A Comprehensive Method for Serological Profiling to Explore the Human Virome

“…It is increasingly recognized that in addition to bacteria, we share our body with other types of microorganisms, including fungi and viruses. In comparison to the microbiome, the so-called virome [a collection of viruses within an individual, including viruses causing acute infection, such as influenza virus, as well as those associated with persistent or latent infection, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV)] and its impact on human health are relatively understudied and are in the early phases of characterization (1 ). One example of an area of great excitement is large, unbiased surveys that attempt to define a viral etiology for diseases that have been postulated to be attributed to a virus but for which no specific virus has been implicated, such as multiple sclerosis, certain malignancies, or Kawasaki disease (2,3 ).…”