Previous ed.: 1993.

Includes index.

Ch. 1. Introduction. Viruses are distinct from 'living' organisms. The origins of virology. Living host systems. Cell culture methods. Serological/immunological methods. Ultrastructural studies. 'Molecular biology' -- Ch. 2. Particles. The function and formation of virus particles. Capsid symmetry and virus architecture. Enveloped viruses. Complex structures. Protein-nucleic acid interactions and genome packaging. Virus receptors - recognition and binding. Other interactions of the virus capsid with the host cell -- Ch. 3. Genomes. The structure and complexity of virus genomes. Molecular genetics. Virus genetics. 'Large' DNA genomes. 'Small' DNA genomes. Positive-strand RNA viruses. Negative-strand RNA viruses. Segmented and multipartite virus genomes. Reverse transcription and transposition. Evolution and epidemiology -- Ch. 4. Replication. Overview of virus replication. Investigation of virus replication. The replication cycle -- Ch. 5. Expression. Expression of genetic information. Control of prokaryote gene expression. Control of expression in bacteriophage [lambda]. Control of eukaryote gene expression. Genome coding strategies. Transcriptional control of expression. Post-transcriptional control of expression -- Ch. 6. Infection. Virus infections of plants. Immune responses to virus infections in animals. Virus-host interactions. The course of virus infections. Prevention and therapy of virus infection. Virus vectors and gene therapy. Chemotherapy of virus infections -- Ch. 7. Pathogenesis. Mechanisms of cellular injury. Viruses and immunodeficiency. Virus-related diseases. Cellular transformation by viruses. Viruses and cancer. New and emergent viruses -- Ch. 8. Novel infectious agents: genomes without viruses, viruses without genomes. Satellites and viroids. Prions. App. 1. Classification of subcellular infectious agents.