Abstract
The nine human herpesviruses are some of the most ubiquitous pathogens worldwide, causing life-long latent infection in a variety of different tissues. Human herpesviruses range from mild childhood infections to known tumour viruses and ‘trolls of transplantation’. Epstein-Barr virus was the first human herpesvirus to have its whole genome sequenced; GenBank now includes thousands of herpesvirus genomes. This review will cover some of the recent advances in our understanding of herpesvirus diversity and disease that have come about as a result of new sequencing technologies, such as target enrichment and long-read sequencing. It will also look at the problem of resolving mixed-genotype infections, whether with short or long-read sequencing methods; and conclude with some thoughts on the future of the field as herpesvirus population genomics becomes a reality.
Highlights
There are nine currently recognised human herpesviruses
All of the human herpesviruses were sequenced at the whole-genome level over a period of around 15 years (Figure 1), and following this ‘Age of Discovery’, some have experienced a trickle of new genomic data (HHV7) and other viruses a flood (Epstein-Barr virus)
Alphaherpesviruses marked in magenta; are marked in teal; Alphaherpesvirusesareare marked in betaherpesviruses magenta; betaherpesviruses are gammaherpesviruses marked in teal; are marked in dark blue
Summary
There are nine currently recognised human herpesviruses. Humans carry herpesviruses in three subfamilies: the alphaherpesvirinae, betaherpesvirinae and gammaherpesvirinae. Within and between these subfamilies, the human herpesviruses have tropisms for a range of tissues (lymphocytes, epithelia) and have genomes of varying sizes All of the human herpesviruses were sequenced at the whole-genome level over a period of around 15 years (Figure 1), and following this ‘Age of Discovery’, some have experienced a trickle of new genomic data (HHV7) and other viruses a flood (Epstein-Barr virus). Alphaherpesviruses marked in magenta; are marked in teal; Alphaherpesvirusesareare marked in betaherpesviruses magenta; betaherpesviruses are gammaherpesviruses marked in teal; are marked in dark blue.
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