Evolution of the Mechanisms of Virus–Cell Interactions

Abstract

Viruses are the most numerous and genetically diverse form of life; they are able to interact with any cellular organism. The long-term coexistence of cellular organisms and parasitic viruses has contributed to the emergence and evolution of a variety of strategies to defend host cells from viral infection and of viral counterstrategies to avoid cellular defenses. This review focuses on the issue of the coevolution of systems of innate antiviral defense and adaptive viral mechanisms.