Virus Taxonomy

Virus taxonomy is the classification of viruses into categories called taxa and the development and implementation of a standardized nomenclature for taxa. Whereas virus taxonomy has been a niche subspecialty over many decades, the field has recently gained importance due to the exponentially increasing number of new viruses discovered by next-generation sequencing methods. The expanded known global virome and associated viral genome sequence space gradually morph virus taxonomy from a phenotype-based and inherently subjective process, focussing on shared or distinct, often arbitrarily chosen biophysical characteristics of virions to a significant subspecialty of systematic evolutionary biology. Indeed, current virus classification is increasingly performed using ever more complex phylogenetic approaches that move researchers closer to a rudimentary understanding of the origin, evolution, relatedness, and diversification of viruses over eons.