Continued Need for Comprehensive Genetic and Phenotypic Characterization of Viruses: Benefits of Complementing Sequence Analyses with Functional Determinations.

The expanded use of next generation sequencing tools has led to an explosion in the rate of discovery of novel viral agents and has had a measured effect on the capacity to genetically identify the presence of previously described viruses in new geographic environments and within different hosts and vectors. For example, more than 30 flaviviruses (; ) with the capacity to infect only mosquitoes have been described in the last 10 years. By contrast, only two such viruses had been described in the previous 33 years. This burgeoning expansion of the known virome has largely outpaced the scientific capacity for characterizing these agents in any detail. Furthermore, many of the methodologies used for rapid genetic detection (such as placing mosquitoes directly in nucleic acid extraction buffers and the use of FTA cards for blood samples) preclude the isolation of the agents.