武汉大学病毒学双语版Chapter6-1.pptVIP

Infection Learning Objectives: On completing this session, you should be able to: Describe the course taken by different virus infections. Explain the scientific basis for therapeutic interventions against virus diseases. Summarize the major responses of plants animals to virus infections. Virus Infections Virus infection of higher organisms is the cumulative result of many processes of genome replication gene expression. Together, these determine the overall course (or natural history) of each infection. Virus infections range in complexity duration from a very brief, superficial interaction between the virus its host to infections which may encompass the entire life of the host organism, from before birth to its eventual death in which many different tissues organs are infected. One of the most common misconceptions is that virus infection inevitably results in disease. In reality, the converse is true - only a small minority of virus infections give rise to any disease symptoms. Virus Infections of Plants The overall course of virus replication is determined by a dynamic interaction between the virus its host organism. Clearly, there are major differences between virus infections of plants those of vertebrates. In economic terms, viruses are only of importance if it is likely that they will spread to crops during their commercial lifetime, which of course varies greatly between very short extremes in horticultural production very long extremes in forestry. Some estimates put total worldwide damage due to plant viruses as high as US$ 6x1010 per year. The mechanism by which plant viruses are transmitted between hosts is of great importance. Transmission of Plant Viruses Seeds: may transmit virus infection either by external contamination of the seed with virus particles, or by infection of the living tissues of the embryo. Transmission by this route leads to early outbreaks of disease in new crops which are usually initially focal in distribution, but m