A team of Pirbright Institute scientists have been involved in a new book on Coronaviruses called, ‘Coronaviruses: Methods and Protocols’. The book, due for release in April 2015, was edited by Compton Laboratory’s Helena Maier, Erica Bickerton and Paul Britton. Published by Springer, it is Volume 1282 in the long-running series ‘Methods in Molecular Biology’.
This new volume aims to describe a variety of techniques that reflects the wide range of research currently performed in the field of coronavirology, and begins with an overview of current understandings of coronavirus replication and pathogenesis to introduce specialists and non-specialists to the field. The rest of the book is divided into several sections which discuss:
- the identification, diagnosis, and study of the evolution of coronaviruses,
- the preparation of cells and organ cultures useful in propagating coronaviruses and titration techniques,
- two commonly used reverse genetics techniques for coronaviruses, and techniques detailing identification of cellular receptors, binding profiles of viral attachment proteins, and virus-cell fusion,
- a broad spectrum of techniques to identify virus-host protein-protein interactions, confirm the functional role of these proteins in virus replication, study host cell responses through genome-wide or pathway-specific approaches, and visualize virus replication complexes.
The chapters include the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results in the laboratory and seven of the 23 chapters were written by Pirbright Institute scientists:
Chapter 4: Estimation of Evolutionary Dynamics and Selection Pressure in Coronaviruses by Muhammad Munir and Marti Cortey
Chapter 5: The Preparation of Chicken Tracheal Organ Cultures for Virus Isolation, Propagation, and Titration by Ruth M. Hennion
Chapter 6: The Preparation of Chicken Kidney Cell Cultures for Virus Propagation by Ruth M. Hennion and Gillian Hill
Chapter 9: Quantification of Infectious Bronchitis Coronaviruses by Titration in vitro and in ovo by Joeri Kint, Helena J. Maier, and Erik Jagt
Chapter 11: Partial Purification of IBV and Subsequent Isolation of Viral RNA for Next Generation Sequencing by Sarah M. Keep, Erica Bickerton, and Paul Britton
Chapter 12: Transient Dominant Selection for the Modification and Generation of Recombinant Infectious Bronchitis Coronaviruses by Sarah M. Keep, Erica Bickerton, and Paul Britton
Chapter 23: Preparation of Cultured Cells Using High Pressure Freezing and Freeze Substitution for Subsequent 2D or 3D Visualization in the Transmission Electron Microscope by Philippa C. Hawes
The book is available on Springer’s website and also on Amazon.