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Animal breeds are the diverse outcome of the thousands-year-long process of livestock domestication. Many of these breeds are piebald, resulting from the artificial selection by pastoralists of animals bearing a genetic condition known as leucism, and selected for their…

Autophagy functions as an intrinsic antiviral defence. However, some viruses can subvert or even enhance host autophagic machinery to increase viral replication and pathogenesis. The role of autophagy during Avibirnavirus infection, especially late stage infection, remains…

Many important and rapidly emerging pathogens of humans, livestock and wildlife are ‘vector-borne’. However, the term ‘vector’ has been applied to diverse agents in a broad range of epidemiological systems. In this perspective, we briefly review some common definitions…

Bovine respiratory syncytial virus, a major cause of respiratory disease in calves, is closely related to human RSV, a leading cause of respiratory disease in infants. Recently, promising human RSV-vaccine candidates have been engineered that stabilize the metastable fusion…

Genomic studies of endangered species provide insights into their evolution and demographic history, reveal patterns of genomic erosion that might limit their viability, and offer tools for their effective conservation. The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is the most endangered…

Marek’s disease (MD), caused by Marek’s disease virus (MDV), is a commercially important neoplastic disease of poultry which is only controlled by mass vaccination. Importantly, vaccines that can provide sterile immunity and inhibit virus transmission are lacking; such that…

Rinderpest was one of the most devastating veterinary diseases affecting even-toed ungulates until it was eradicated globally in 2011. Caused by the rinderpest virus (RPV), at its height rinderpest was prevalent in many parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. An ancient disease…

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) is the type species of the genus Metapneumovirus in the subfamily Pneumovirinae within the family Paramyxoviridae. The genome encodes eight discrete transcription units, which are generally assumed to code for nine proteins. Genes are flanked by…

The Mediterranean olive tree (Olea europaea subsp. europaea) was one of the first trees to be domesticated and is currently of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil. The molecular bases underlying the phenotypic differences…