The escalating drumbeats announcing new and re-emerging pathogenic viruses may drown out news about the important roles viruses play on different hosts and in our ecosystem. This brief summary will hopefully serve the purpose of directing interested readers to the complete viral world report elaborating on pathogenic and beneficial traits of viruses across the globe (authors: American Society for Microbiology).

2. Currently
no
universal
phylogeny
for viruses
ICTV, International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses
American Academy of Microbiology. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents 2014 [cited 2014 October].
http://academy.asm.org/index.php/browse-all-reports/5180-viruses-throughout-life-time-friends-foes-change-agents

3. Temperate
viruses
Virus-particles/
virions
Virus-like
particles
Endogenous
viral elements
1. American SocietyMicrobiology. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents 2014 [cited 2014 October].
http://academy.asm.org/index.php/browse-all-reports/5180-viruses-throughout-life-time-friends-foes-change-agents

4. Class II
ssDNA
dsDNA
Class
IV
(+)ssRNA
(-)ssRNA
Class V
(-)ssRNA
Class VII
dsDNA-RT
Class VI
ssRNA-RT
DNA/
RNA
dsDNA
Class 1
dsDNA
Class III
dsRNA
7 ways to
incorporate
mRNA into
viral
genome,
including RT
ss, single-stranded; ds, double-stranded; RT, reverse transcriptase
1. American Society for Microbiology. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents 2014 [cited 2014 October].
http://academy.asm.org/index.php/browse-all-reports/5180-viruses-throughout-life-time-friends-foes-change-agents

5. 1. American Society for Microbiology. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents 2014 [cited 2014 October].
http://academy.asm.org/index.php/browse-all-reports/5180-viruses-throughout-life-time-friends-foes-change-agents

6. 1. American Society for Microbiology. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents 2014 [cited 2014 October].
http://academy.asm.org/index.php/browse-all-reports/5180-viruses-throughout-life-time-friends-foes-change-agents

7. 1. American Society for Microbiology. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents. Viruses Throughout Life & Time: Friends, Foes, Change Agents 2014 [cited 2014 October].
http://academy.asm.org/index.php/browse-all-reports/5180-viruses-throughout-life-time-friends-foes-change-agents