Strengthening the Interaction of the Virology Community with the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) by Linking Virus Names and Their Abbreviations to Virus Species

Charles H Calisher; Thomas Briese; J Rodney Brister; Rémi N Charrel; Ralf Dürrwald; Hideki Ebihara; Charles F Fulhorst; George Fú Gāo; Martin H Groschup; Andrew D Haddow; Timothy H Hyndman; Sandra Junglen; Boris Klempa; Jonas Klingström; Andrew M Kropinski; Mart Krupovic; A Desiree LaBeaud; Piet Maes; Norbert Nowotny; Márcio Roberto Teixeira Nunes; Susan L Payne; Sheli R Radoshitzky; Dennis Rubbenstroth; Sead Sabanadzovic; Takahide Sasaya; Mark D Stenglein; Arvind Varsani; Victoria Wahl; Scott C Weaver; Francisco Murilo Zerbini; Nikos Vasilakis; Jens H Kuhn

doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy087

Strengthening the Interaction of the Virology Community with the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) by Linking Virus Names and Their Abbreviations to Virus Species

Syst Biol. 2019 Sep 1;68(5):828-839. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syy087.

Authors

Charles H Calisher¹, Thomas Briese², J Rodney Brister³, Rémi N Charrel⁴, Ralf Dürrwald⁵, Hideki Ebihara⁶, Charles F Fulhorst⁷, George Fú Gāo⁸, Martin H Groschup⁹, Andrew D Haddow¹⁰, Timothy H Hyndman¹¹, Sandra Junglen^{12

13}, Boris Klempa¹⁴, Jonas Klingström¹⁵, Andrew M Kropinski^{16

17}, Mart Krupovic¹⁸, A Desiree LaBeaud¹⁹, Piet Maes²⁰, Norbert Nowotny^{21

22}, Márcio Roberto Teixeira Nunes²³, Susan L Payne²⁴, Sheli R Radoshitzky²⁵, Dennis Rubbenstroth^{9

26}, Sead Sabanadzovic²⁷, Takahide Sasaya²⁸, Mark D Stenglein²⁹, Arvind Varsani³⁰, Victoria Wahl³¹, Scott C Weaver³², Francisco Murilo Zerbini³³, Nikos Vasilakis³⁴, Jens H Kuhn³⁵

Affiliations

¹ Arthropod-borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 3195 Rampart Rd., Delivery Code 1690, Foothills Campus, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1692, USA.
² Department of Epidemiology, Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th St., New York, NY 10032, USA.
³ National Center for Biotechnology, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 27102, USA.
⁴ Unité des Virus Emergents (Faculté de Médecine, Université Aix-Marseille-IRD 190-Inserm 1207-IHU Méditerranée Infection), Marseille, France.
⁵ Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch-Institut, Postfach 65 02 61, D-13302 Berlin, Germany.
⁶ Department of Molecular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Guggenheim Building, 18th Floor, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
⁷ Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA.
⁸ National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Rd., Changping District, Beijing 102206, China.
⁹ Institut für Virusdiagnostik, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Virology, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
¹¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South St., Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
¹² Institute of Virology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Free University Berlin, Humboldt-University Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Germany.
¹³ Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Inhoffenstraße 7, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.
¹⁴ Biomedicínske centrum, Virologický ústav, Slovenská Akadémia Vied, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovakia.
¹⁵ Centre for Infectious Medicine, Institutionen för Medicin, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, C2:94, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁶ Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
¹⁸ Departement of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France.
¹⁹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Dr., G312, Stanford, CA, 94305 USA.
²⁰ KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Zoonotic Infectious Diseases unit, Herestraat 49 box 1040, BE3000 Leuven, Belgium.
²¹ Institute of Virology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
²² Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Building 14, Dubai Healthcare City, P.O. Box 505055, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
²³ Evandro Chagas Institute, Brazilian Ministry of Health, Rodovia Br-316, Km 7 s/n, Levilândia, Ananindeua, Pará, 67030-000, Brazil.
²⁴ Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Medical Sciences Building, 400 Raymond Stotzer Parkway, Texas A&M University 4467, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
²⁵ Molecular and Translational Sciences, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
²⁶ Institut für Virologie, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Straße 11, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
²⁷ Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, 402 Dorman Hall, Box 9655, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
²⁸ Department of Planning and Coordination, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 3-1-1 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8517, Japan.
²⁹ Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523 USA.
³⁰ The Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, School of Life Sciences, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, 727 E. Tyler St., P.O. Box 876101, Tempe, AZ 85287-6101, USA.
³¹ National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, 8300 Research Plaza, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 27102, USA.
³² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.
³³ Departamento de Fitopatologia/BIOAGRO and National Institute of Science and Technology for Plant-Pest Interactions, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P.H. Rolfs s/n, Viçosa, MG, 36570-900, Brazil.
³⁴ Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Tropical Diseases, Institute for Human Infection and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.
³⁵ Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick, B-8200 Research Plaza, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 27102, USA.

Abstract

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is tasked with classifying viruses into taxa (phyla to species) and devising taxon names. Virus names and virus name abbreviations are currently not within the ICTV's official remit and are not regulated by an official entity. Many scientists, medical/veterinary professionals, and regulatory agencies do not address evolutionary questions nor are they concerned with the hierarchical organization of the viral world, and therefore, have limited use for ICTV-devised taxa. Instead, these professionals look to the ICTV as an expert point source that provides the most current taxonomic affiliations of viruses of interests to facilitate document writing. These needs are currently unmet as an ICTV-supported, easily searchable database that includes all published virus names and abbreviations linked to their taxa is not available. In addition, in stark contrast to other biological taxonomic frameworks, virus taxonomy currently permits individual species to have several members. Consequently, confusion emerges among those who are not aware of the difference between taxa and viruses, and because certain well-known viruses cannot be located in ICTV publications or be linked to their species. In addition, the number of duplicate names and abbreviations has increased dramatically in the literature. To solve this conundrum, the ICTV could mandate listing all viruses of established species and all reported unclassified viruses in forthcoming online ICTV Reports and create a searchable webpage using this information. The International Union of Microbiology Societies could also consider changing the mandate of the ICTV to include the nomenclature of all viruses in addition to taxon considerations. With such a mandate expansion, official virus names and virus name abbreviations could be catalogued and virus nomenclature could be standardized. As a result, the ICTV would become an even more useful resource for all stakeholders in virology.

Keywords: (ICTV); Arbovirus; International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses; classification; nomenclature; species; taxonomy; virus.

Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists 2019.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Classification / methods*
International Cooperation
Virology / methods*
Virology / standards
Virology / trends
Viruses / classification*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding