Lonya and Jeremy take the TWiV team beTWIXt primate immunodeficiency virus proteins Vpx and Vpr and how they counteract transcriptional repression of proviruses by the HUSH complex.
The TWiV team notes the passing of Tom Steitz, an outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis in the US, a continuing Ebola virus outbreak in DRC, respiratory vaccinia due to inhalation of ground up rabbit skin, and how a human papillomavirus capsid protein directs virus-containing endosomes towards the nucleus.
Anne Simon joins the TWiV team to talk about plant viruses, including plum pox virus that devastates nut and stone fruit trees, and a geminivirus protein that regulates viral DNA synthesis.
Ned Landau joins the TWiV team to discuss restriction of HIV replication by SAMHD1, and a viral antagonist that can be used to produce a dendritic cell vaccine.
Vincent and Dickson travel to the 44th Retrovirus meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, where they speak with John Coffin, Stephen Hughes, Ya-Chi Ho, and Matt Takata about the meeting and their work on HIV-1.
The TWiV team considers whether those who can do, can’t teach, and newly discovered viruses of planarians and Aplysia with the largest RNA genomes.
Jens returns to present a brief history of bioweapons, with a focus on the program in the Soviet Union, the largest ever undertaken, and his experience working in the decommissioned Soviet bioweapons laboratory known as Vector.
The TWiV team discuss the biology of Ebola viruses, and how localization of the membrane proteins of vaccinia virus drive function: the fusion machinery sits at the tips of virions, and binding proteins are at the sides.
David Tuller returns to provide an update of his investigative work to expose the methodological and ethical problems with the PACE trial for ME/CFS.
The TWiVniks explain how the three-dimensional structure of the giant Cafeteria roenbergensis virus suggests a new mode of assembly, and the apparent elimination of dengue fever in an Australian city by release of mosquitoes harboring Wolbachia.
The Hosts of TWiV
Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D.
Brianne Barker, Ph.D.
Rich Condit, Ph.D.
Alan Dove, Ph.D.
Daniel Griffin, M.D.,
Ph.D., CTropMed CTH
Angela Mingarelli, DVM
Jolene Ramsey, Ph.D.
Kathy Spindler, Ph.D.