Virus Discovery by Metagenomics: The (Im)possibilities

• Main Author: Katrine L. Whiteson (auth)
• Other Authors: Alejandro Reyes (auth), Richard J. Hall (auth), Bas E. Dutilh (auth)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media SA 2017
• Series: Frontiers Research Topics
• Subjects: Microbiology (non-medical); virome; biological dark matter; metagenome; metagenomics; bacteriophages; bioinformatics; virus discovery; phages
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

Since the late 1800s, the discovery of new viruses was a gradual process. Viruses were described one by one using a suite of techniques such as (electron) microscopy and viral culture. Investigators were usually interested in a disease state within an organism, and expeditions in viral ecology were...