El mundo de los virus

292
Current Topics
in Microbiology
and Immunology

Editors
R.W. Compans, Atlanta/Georgia
M.D. Cooper, Birmingham/Alabama
T. Honjo, Kyoto · H. Koprowski, Philadelphia/Pennsylvania
F. Melchers, Basel · M.B.A. Oldstone, La Jolla/California
S. Olsnes, Oslo · M. Potter, Bethesda/Maryland
P.K. Vogt, La Jolla/California · H. Wagner, Munich

Z.F. Fu (Ed.)

The World
of RhabdovirusesWith 27 Figures and 7 Tables

123

Professor Dr. Zhen F. Fu, DVM, PhD
Department of Pathology
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
USA
e-mail: zhenfu@vet.uga.edu

Cover figure by Zhen F. Fu

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Preface

Rhabdoviruses have a very wide host rangeand have been isolated from
plants, insects, and almost from all vertebrates including fish and primates.
The Rhabdoviridae family consists of six genera which have all been associated with diseases, either in animals or plants. While rhabdoviruses that
are the etiological agents of human diseases can cause serious public health
problems, other members of this family that infect domesticlivestock and
agricultural plants can also cause enormous economic loss. Despite the significance of rhabdoviruses for public health and agriculture, the last book
exclusively devoted to these viruses was published in 1987. The first classification of rhabdoviruses was based on the distinct bullet-shaped morphology
that is characteristic of members of this family. However, using modern gene
technology,which allows the complete analysis of entire viral genomes, it
was recently found that different rhabdoviruses exhibit not only morphological similarities but are also genetically related. In this respect, the development of reverse genetics technology and its use for studying the regulation
of viral transcription and replication, deciphering the pathogenic mechanisms, and developing vaccinesand gene therapy vectors probably resulted
in the most significant progress in rhabdovirus research during the past
15 years.
This volume is intended to review the unique and common features of
rhabdoviruses, particularly their morphological, molecular, and pathogenic
characteristics, and their phylogenetic relationships.
The chapter by Fu reviews the common characteristics of rhabdoviruses,...