Mastodawn

The Virus Diseases of Plants Working Group of the Deutsche Phytomedizinische Gesellschaft e.V. (DPG) met this week under the theme “New innovations & techniques in plant virology.”
Co-organised by Julius Kühn Institute and DSMZ, the event featured talks, posters, and lively discussions on advances in understanding plant diseases. 🌱

#PlantHealth #Virology #Science #Innovation
📷 DSMZ

Scientific Frontline 21h ago

Zoonotic spillover is the successful transmission of a pathogenic entity—such as a virus, bacterium, or parasite—from a non-human animal reservoir into a human population. This rare but consequential event occurs when a pathogen successfully crosses the strict biological boundary between species.
#WhatIs #Zoonotic #Epidemiology #Virology #Biology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/03/wi03162601.html

What Is: Zoonotic Spillover

Zoonotic spillover is the biological catalyst behind nearly every major global pandemic of the last century.

Nonya Bidniss 6d ago

Contrary to prevailing belief, an evolutionary analysis finds no evidence that most viruses with epidemic or pandemic potential that jumped from animals to people were shaped by selection in a lab or prolonged evolution in an intermediate host—challenging claims that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was engineered in a lab.

#COVID #pandemic #virology https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/recent-pandemic-viruses-including-sar-cov-2-spread-directly-people-without-adaptation

Recent pandemic viruses, including SAR-CoV-2, spread directly to people without adaptation, researchers say

CIDRAP

David Ojcius Mar 10

The complex interplay between hepatitis D virus and the interferon response.

HDV causes the most severe chronic hepatitis; limited therapies and weak interferon response hinder control, underscoring need for better treatments.

https://www.ojcius.net/post/the-complex-interplay-between-hepatitis-d-virus-and-the-interferon-response

#virology #OpenAccess #hepatitis #microbiology

datum (n=1)Mar 9

Just in case you forgot - SARS-CoV-2 dramatically alters cells. Not embellishment, but the words of the researchers:

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces global alterations of the host endomembrane system, including dramatic Golgi fragmentation

The virus shatters and scatters critical cellular pieces - this time my words. Them:

In contrast to the well-organized ribbon-like structure in uninfected cells, as labeled by the Golgi protein GRASP65, the Golgi was seen as small fragments dispersed in the entire cytoplasm in infected cells

https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1013295

#SARSCoV2 #COVID #COVID19 #CovidIsNotOver #microbiology #virology

SARS-CoV-2 remodels the Golgi apparatus to facilitate viral assembly and secretion

Author summary SARS-CoV-2, the etiologic agent of COVID-19, is an enveloped RNA virus. Despite extensive research, the molecular mechanisms governing SARS-CoV-2 assembly and secretion remain poorly understood. While some studies suggest that SARS-CoV-2 bypasses the Golgi apparatus via an unconventional secretory pathway, we provide compelling evidence that the virus instead traffics through the Golgi and relies on the conventional ER-to-Golgi pathway for virion assembly and release. Intriguingly, SARS-CoV-2 infection down-regulates the Golgi stack protein GRASP55 while up-regulates TGN46, a less characterized trans-Golgi network (TGN) protein. Depletion of GRASP55 enhances both spike protein incorporation into virions and viral trafficking, whereas GRASP55 expression has the opposite effect. In contrast, TGN46 depletion inhibits viral trafficking but not assembly, suggesting distinct roles for these proteins at different stages of infection. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 modulates GRASP55 and TGN46 levels to remodel the Golgi apparatus, facilitating viral assembly and secretion. This mechanism appears conserved across SARS-CoV-2 variants, advancing our understanding of how the virus exploits the host secretory pathway.

David Ojcius Mar 8

The complex interplay between #hepatitis D virus & the interferon response.

HDV causes severe hepatitis. Interferon offers limited benefit due to viral immune evasion, highlighting need for better therapies.

https://davidojcius.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-complex-interplay-between-hepatitis.html

#OpenAccess #virology

David Ojcius Mar 7

Early-life rotavirus infection susceptibility & later gastrointestinal #cancer protection: Reverse antagonistic pleiotropy & potential vaccine benefits.

Severe #rotavirus links to SNPs under selection that raise infection risk yet may lower later cancer risk.

https://davidojcius.blogspot.com/2026/03/early-life-rotavirus-infection.html

#microbiology #virology

David Ojcius Mar 7

Deltaviruses spread through a viral Trojan Horse.

Deltaviruses hitchhike inside helper virions for entry & spread, revealing a conserved Trojan‑horse transmission mechanism.

https://davidojcius.blogspot.com/2026/03/deltaviruses-spread-through-viral.html

#OpenAccess #virology #deltavirus

boksy Mar 4

Stanley Plotkin's contribution to vaccinology has been so significant that the field's textbook, now in its eighth edition, carries his name. But as vaccines increasingly come under attack, Plotkin, now 93, fears he knows what's to come: many children will die from preventative diseases.

"All I can say is that I'm beginning to regret having lived so long — because we're going downhill," he says. He worries that people have become more susceptible to anti-vaccine misinformation because they have not experienced the misery that childhood diseases once caused — and that things will not get better until outbreaks cause anguish once again.

https://www.statnews.com/2026/03/02/stanley-plotkin-profile-godfather-of-vaccines-worried/

#Vaccines #Virology #Science #HHS #RFKJr #Trump #GOP #Nature #Measles #COVID #AvianFlu #Rubella #Meningitis