Bunyaviridae

The Bunyaviridae represent an extremely diverse family of viruses which until recently were relatively poorly understood, and which are increasingly important in both medicine and biology. This book attempts to treat all aspects of their biology, including their natural history, genetics, virion structure and their unusual pathway of intracellular assembly, the gene structure and mechanisms of its expressions, antigenicity and pathogenesis in a single volume. As such, it fills a void in the virology literature. Also, this volume is timely, as the molecular description of this family is now almost complete.

The Bunyaviridae represent an extremely diverse family of viruses, whichuntilrecentlywererelativelypoorlyunderstood. These viruses have become increasingly important in both human and veterinary medicine, and, most recently, bunyaviruses have been recognized as plant pathogens as well. This book attemptsto treat all aspectsof their biology, including their natural history, genetics, virion structure, unusual pathway of intracellular assembly, gene structure and the mechanisms of its expression, antigenicity, and pathogenesis, inasinglevolume. Assuch, itfillsavoid inthe virologyliterature.Thisvolumeisalsotimely, asthemolecular descriptionofthisfamilyisnowalmostcomplete. Thereader can expect to find the present state of the art on how bunyavirusesaremaintainedinnature, andhowtheyreplicate and sometimescausedisease. Iwould like tothank myco-contributorsfor the time and efforttheyhaveinvestedtomaketheirchaptersascompleteas possible, and notleastofall, for byand largerespectingthe deadline. Iam alsogratefulto DickCompansforsuggesting this volume and helping to design its contents, and for the manydiscussionsduring hisstayin Geneva. DANIEL KOLAKOFSKY ListofContents C. R. PRINGLE: TheBunyaviridaeandTheirGenetics- An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B.J. BEATYand C. H. CALISHER: Bunyaviridae- Natural History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 M.J. HEWLETTand W. CHIU: Virion Structure . . 79 R. M. ELLIOTT, C. S. SCHMALJOHN.and M. S. COLLETT: BunyaviridaeGenomeStructureandGeneExpression 91 D. KOLAKOFSKYand D. HACKER: BunyavirusRNA Synthesis: GenomeTranscriptionand Replication. 143 Y. MATSUOKA, S. Y. CHEN, and R. W. COMPANS: BunyavirusProteinTransportandAssembly. 161 L. KINGSFORD: AntigenicVariance. . . . . . . . 181 F.GONZALEZ-SCARANO, M. J. ENDRES.and N. NATHANSON: Pathogenesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 217 ListofContributors BEATY, B. J.... 27 HACKER. D.... 143 CALISHER, C. H.. 27 HEWLETT, M. J. 79 CHEN, S.Y . 161 KINGSFORD, L.. 181 CHIU, w. . 79 KOLAKOFSKY D.. 143 COLLETT, M.S. . 91 MATSUOKA, Y.. 161 COMPANS, R. W.. 161 NATHANSON, N.. 217 ELLIOTT, R. M.. . 91 PRINGLE, C. R.. . 1 ENDRES. M. J. . . 217 SCHMALJOHN. C.S.. 91 GONZALEZ-SCARANO, F.

There has been no literature up to now treating the Bunyaviridae in general as a family. The book demonstrates how they are maintained in nature and how they replicate and sometimes cause disease.

Contents: The Bunyaviridae and Their Genetics - An Overview.- Bunyavviridae - Natural History.- Virion Structure.- Bunyaviridae Genome Structure and Gene Expression.- Synthesis: Genome Transcription and Replication.- Bunyavirus Protein Transport and Assembly.- Antigenic Variance.- Pathogenesis.