Despite the fact that viruses are among the simplest biological entities—consisting only of DNA or RNA encapsulated in a protein shell—they can have devastating consequences, with viruses such as influenza, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Ebola having dramatically affected the course of human history. Because they generally lack the cellular machinery necessary to reproduce, they propagate by hijacking host cells, often to the host’s detriment. Although their status as a “living” organism may be in question, there is no doubt that viruses are shaped by evolutionary forces that influence their genomes, as well as their replication, host range, virulence, and other features. With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, a virus that has intimately affected virtually all aspects of human life for the past year, the study of viral evolution may seem more profound and relevant than ever before. Genome Biology and Evolution’s latest virtual issue is a collection of thought-provoking articles in the field of viral evolution from the past 2 years, providing new insight into the evolutionary mechanisms that influence viruses, their genomes, and their hosts, as well as showcasing their use in the study of evolution.

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亮点-郊区进化：关于病毒进化的虚拟问题

尽管病毒是最简单的生物实体之一（仅由包裹在蛋白质外壳中的DNA或RNA组成），但它们可能会造成毁灭性后果，例如流感病毒，人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）和埃博拉病毒已极大地影响了病程人类历史。由于它们通常缺乏繁殖所必需的细胞机制，因此它们通过劫持宿主细胞进行繁殖，这通常对宿主有害。尽管可能会质疑它们作为“活”生物的地位，但毫无疑问，病毒是由影响其基因组及其复制，宿主范围，毒力和其他特征的进化力所塑造的。随着SARS-CoV-2的出现，该病毒在过去的一年中几乎对人类生活的各个方面都产生了深远的影响，病毒进化研究似乎比以往任何时候都更深入和相关。Genome Biology and Evolution的最新虚拟期刊是过去两年中有关病毒进化领域的发人深省的文章的集合，提供了对影响病毒，其基因组及其宿主的进化机制的新见解，并展示了它们的原理。在进化研究中使用。