title: [Bats, viruses and humans: coronaviruses on the rise?].
abstract: The outbreak of the SARS coronavirus in 2002/2003 and the recent disease cases with a new human coronavirus (originally designated EMC-CoV, recently renamed MERS-CoV) have put the focus onto the virus family Coronaviridae. Both viruses appeared to have managed to jump over the species barrier from a bat reservoir to the human population. Bats are considered to serve as a natural reservoir for coronaviruses infecting mammals. An important factor for crossing the species-barrier is the adaptation to a new receptor on cells of the new host species. During evolution coronaviruses have developed a large diversity of binding specificities demonstrating the high flexibility of the coronaviral spike protein, which is responsible for binding to target cells.
authors: Institut für Virologie der Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover. christine.winter@tiho-hannover.de
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Winter
authors: Institut für Virologie der Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover.
authors: Georg
authors: G
authors: Herrler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D003332:Coronaviridae / Q000502:physiology*; D003333:Coronaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus