The dynamics of partons and hadrons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for the partonic phase (DQPM) including a dynamical hadronization scheme. The PHSD approach is applied to nucleus-nucleus collisions from low SPS to LHC energies. The traces of partonic interactions are found in particular in the elliptic flow of hadrons and in their transverse mass spectra. We investigate also the equilibrium properties of strongly-interacting infinite parton-hadron matter characterized by transport coefficients such as shear and bulk viscosities and the electric conductivity in comparison to lattice QCD results. (C) 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim