Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, 91 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3125, Storrs, CT 06269-3125, USA.
Structure. 2012 Aug 8;20(8):1291-2. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2012.07.007.
Viruses are the most populous ‘biological entities’ on Earth (Krupovic and Bamford, 2011). The most common of these are the tailed, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) containing bacteriophages, which outnumber bacteria by 10 fold. Since they do number so many, bacteriphages greatly affect global processes (Suttle, 2007). Related to dsDNA phages are the eukaryotic dsDNA Herpesviruses, which cause a host of diseases including chicken pox, shingles, Karposi’s sarcoma and mononucleosis (Cardone et al., 2012). Thus, understanding the assembly of this class of viruses is important for both the global climate and human health.
病毒是地球上数量最多的“生物实体”(Krupovic 和 Bamford,2011)。其中最常见的是长尾、双链 DNA(dsDNA)噬菌体,其数量是细菌的 10 倍。由于它们的数量如此之多,噬菌体极大地影响了全球的进程(Suttle,2007)。与 dsDNA 噬菌体相关的是真核双链 DNA 疱疹病毒,它会引起多种疾病,包括水痘、带状疱疹、卡波西肉瘤和单核细胞增多症(Cardone 等人,2012)。因此,了解这一类病毒的组装对于全球气候和人类健康都很重要。