What justifies the size of this compendium of reviews on the paramyxoviruses? As intracellular parasites that reproduce with almost complete indifference to nuclear activities, paramyxoviruses have not been providing insights about genes that regulate cellular activities and development, topics that account for much of the excitement in modem biology. For contributions of virus research to those topics, we must look to the retroviruses, which have the propensity to steal developmentally important genes and subvert them to malignant pur- poses, and to the nuclear DNA viruses, whose gene...

There are over a million different species of insects, and individually they 8 outnumber humans by more than 10 to 1. Moreover, some insects live in close association with both plants and higher animals and naturally exchange viruses with them. It has even been speculated that viruses in general may have radiated through the plant and animal kingdoms from common insect origins. Be that as it may, since insects play pivotal roles in the biosphere, both to the benefit and detriment of mankind, they and the viruses that infect them are important subjects for study. Insects are infected by a...

Influenza virus is an important human pathogen, frequently causing widespread disease and a significant loss of life. Much has been learned about the structure of the virus, its genetic variation, its mode of gene expression and replication, and its interaction with the host immu nologic system. This knowledge has the potential of leading to ap proaches for the control of influenza virus. In addition, research on influ enza virus has led to important advances in eukaryotic molecular and cellular biology and in immunology. A major focus of this book is the molecular biology of influenza virus....

More than seven years have passed since the first monograph on viroids was published. At that time, the existence of viroids as a novel type of pathogen far smaller than viruses had been amply demonstrated and some of their unusual molecular properties had been elucidated, but the entry of molecular biology into viroid research was still in its infancy. Since that time, our knowledge of the molecular properties of viroids has increased exponentially and viroids have become even more fasci nating than was the case seven years ago. Today, aside from transfer RNA, viroids are probably the best...

It has been more than twenty years since the isolation of polyoma virus and SV40, and the reports that they could produce tumors in animals and transformation of cells in culture. What was startling was that these biologic properties are associated with viruses that contain genetic in- formation that is able to code for only five or six proteins. Since that time, investigations with these viruses have been in four principal areas. One major area of study has been on cells transformed by viruses that show altered growth properties and specify new viral and cellular proteins. Transformation...

During the past two decades, virus taxonomy has advanced to the point where most viruses can be classified as belonging to families, genera, or groups of related viruses. Virus classification is primarily based on chem ical and physical similarities, such as the size and shape of the virion, the nature of the genomic nucleic acid, the number and function of com ponent proteins, the presence of lipids and of additional structural fea tures, such as envelopes, and serological interrelationships. The families, genera, or groups of viruses that have been defined on the basis of such criteria by...

A great truth is a truth whose opposite. is also a great truth. Thomas Mann (Essay on Freud, 1937) This volume centers on pseudorabies (PR V), herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2), and human cytomegalovirus (CMV) and fulfills three objectives. The chapters on the epidemiology and latency of HSV, and on the glycoproteins specified by HSV and CMV, set the stage for the discussions of the immunobiology and pathogenesis of human herpesvirus infections in Volume 4. The epidemiology of HSV is the basis of our understanding of the spread and survival of this virus in the human...

'You damn sadist/said mr cummings 'you try to make people think. ' -Ezra Pound (Canto 89) What makes herpesviruses unique? It is certainly not the size of their genomes or the individual features of their reproductive cycle, although in toto striking features that are exclusive to the herpesviruses abound. Unquestionably, the pre-eminent feature is the relationship of herpes viruses with their natural hosts. As described in preceding volumes, all herpesviruses seem to be able to colonize and to remain in a latent, nonproductive form for life of their hosts. Once established in the host, the...

The first volume of the nineteen-volume series entitled Comprehensive Virology was published in 1974 and the last is yet to appear. We noted in 1974 that virology as a discipline had passed through its descriptive and phenomenological phases and was joining the molecular biology rev- olution. The volumes published to date were meant to serve as an in- depth analysis and standard reference of the evolving field of virology. We felt that viruses as biological entities had to be considered in the context of the broader fields of molecular and cellular biology. In fact, we felt then, and feel...