Microbiology

Big Picture Book of Viruses
This site from the Garry Lab at The Tulane Medical Center of Tulane University provides information on the physical and genome characteristics of virus families. Included are links to nice images of the various families (e.g., Adenoviridae, adenovirues). Additional WWW links are avaialable for most familites, and several of the families have online tutorials that provide significantly more information on a particular family (e.g., tutorial on retroviruses).

Universal Virus Database
The BioInformatics Group at the Research School of Biological Sciences of the Australian National University maintains this site which provides lots of information about particular viruses. The best way for the non-virologist to find information about a particular viral group is through the index. The organization of this page leavse A LOT to be desired, but by using the built-in find function of your browser, you can usually locate what you're looking for. For example, if you searched for Human rhinovirus (the virus that causes the common cold), you would be rewarded with information on all sorts of aspects of the virus group.

Digital Learning Center for Microbial Ecology
This is an interesting site that provides all sorts of information about microbes. Particularly interesting is the Microbe Zoo which shows you how bacteria and viruses are all around (and in) us. (For example, check out what's in a cow's rumen, part of the Animal Pavilion exhibit.)

Introduction To Molecular Virology
This is an interesting site with quite a bit of information about viruses in general and also (obviously) the molecular genetics of viruses. Topics include "What is a Virus?", "Classification of Viruses", "Virus Ultrastructure", "Origins of Viruses" and "Emerging Viruses". This site comes from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Cape Town.