Are arthropods at the heart of virus evolution?

Elife. 2015 Mar 9:4:e06837. doi: 10.7554/eLife.06837.

Abstract

The huge diversity of negative-sense RNA viruses in insects, spiders and other arthropods suggests that these animals could be central to virus origin and evolution.

Keywords: RNA virus; arthropods; evolution; infectious disease; microbiology; negative-sense; phylogeny; segmentation; viruses.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arthropods / virology*
  • Biological Evolution*