The new scope of virus taxonomy: partitioning the virosphere into 15 hierarchical ranks

Abstract

Abstract Virus taxonomy emerged as a discipline in the middle of the twentieth century. Traditionally, classification by virus taxonomists has been focussed on the grouping of relatively closely related viruses. However, during the past few years, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) has recognized that the taxonomy it develops can be usefully extended to include the basal evolutionary relationships among distantly related viruses. Consequently, the ICTV has changed its Code to allow a 15-rank classification hierarchy that closely aligns with the Linnaean taxonomic system and may accommodate the entire spectrum of genetic divergence in the virosphere. The current taxonomies of three human pathogens, Ebola virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and herpes simplex virus 1 are used to illustrate the impact of the expanded rank structure. This new rank hierarchy of virus taxonomy will stimulate further research on virus origins and evolution, and vice versa, and could promote crosstalk with the taxonomies of cellular organisms.

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• Centre for Agricultural Research HU
• Boston VA Research Institute US
• Harvard University US
• Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection IT
• University of Guelph CA
• Agricultural Research Service US
• Minehead Community Hospital GB
• Mississippi State University US
• University of Alabama at Birmingham US
• National Research Council IT
• MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research GB
• Institute for Veterinary Medical Research HU
• University of Oxford GB
• U.S. National Science Foundation US
• University of Bristol GB
• National Institutes of Health US
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases US
• Arizona State University US
• The University of Queensland AU
• Utrecht University NL
• Division of Molecular & Cellular Biosciences US
• Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin DE
• United States Department of Agriculture US
• Universidade Federal de Viçosa BR
• Institut Pasteur FR
• The Pirbright Institute GB
• Lomonosov Moscow State University RU
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada CA

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