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The studies presented in this special issue of VIRUS GENES provide information on the two aspects of virus evolution: the ancient evolution of viruses from the time prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells evolved, and the ongoing process of the current molecular evolution of viruses. The studies of many scientists collected in this issue and many more that were published in other scientific journals provide insight into the molecular evolution of viruses as one of nature's mysteries. The use of computer porograms to study the nucleotide sequences of viral genomes, the amino acid compositions of proteins coded by viral genomes, and searches for regulatory mechanisms in viral nucleic acid replication, as well as identities of motifs in proteins of viruses from all families, will provide additional information on the subject. In future issues that will be devoted to this subject, the origin and evolution of RNA and DNA viruses will be further investigated.
List of contents
Virus Genes.- A Short Introduction to the Origin and Molecular Evolution of Viruses.- A: Role of Retrons, Retroelements, and Reverse Transcription in the Evolution of Retroviruses and in Eukaryotic Genome Plasticity.- Structure, Function, and Evolution of Bacterial Reverse Transcriptase.- Bacterial Reverse Transcriptase and msDNA.- Retroelements: Propagation and Adaptation.- Origin and Evolution of Viroids and Viroid-like Satellite RNAs.- Evolution and Biological Significance of Human Retroelements.- Endogenous env Elements: Partners in Generation of Pathogenic Feline Leukemia Viruses.- Reverse Transcriptase: Mediator of Genomic Plasticity.- B: Molecular Processes Involved in the Evolution of RNA and DNA Viruses.- Analysis of the Phylogenetic Placement of Different Spumaretroviral Genes Reveals Complex Pattern of Foamy Virus Evolution.- Retrovirus and Filovirus "Immunosuppressive Motif" and the Evolution of Virus Pathogenecity in HIV-1, HIV-2, and Ebola Viruses.- Molecular Evolution of Aphthoviruses.- Molecular Evolution of Influenza Viruses.- Analysis of Matrix Protein Gene Nucleotide Sequence Diversity Among Newcastle Disease Virus Isolates Demonstrates that Recent Disease Outbreaks Are Caused by Viruses of Psittacine Origin.- Molecular Epidemiology and Evolution of Mosquito-Borne Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses Enzootic in Australia.- Evolution of Small DNA Viruses of Eukaryotes: Past and Present Considerations.- Retrotransposition and Herpesvirus Evolution.- Evolution of Viral DNA-Dependent RNA Polymerases.- Evolution of T4-Related Phages.- Molecular Evolution of Viruses: An Interim Summary.
Summary
The studies presented in this special issue of VIRUS GENES provide information on the two aspects of virus evolution: the ancient evolution of viruses from the time prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells evolved, and the ongoing process of the current molecular evolution of viruses.
