Consensus statement: Virus taxonomy in the age of metagenomics

Peter Simmonds (1) , Mike J. Adams (2) , Mária Benkő (3) , Balázs Harrach (3) , Mya Breitbart (4) , J Rodney Brister (5) , Eugene V. Koonin (5) , Eric B. Carstens (6) , Andrew J. Davison (7) , Richard Orton (7) , Eric A Delwart (8) , Alexander E. Gorbalenya (9, 10) , Roger Hull (11) , Andrew M. Q. King (12) , Mart Krupovic (13) , Jens H. Kuhn (14) , Elliot J. Lefkowitz (15) , Max L. Nibert (16) , Marilyn J. Roossinck (17) , Sead Sabanadzovic (18) , Matthew B. Sullivan (19) , Curtis A. Suttle (20, 21) , Robert B. Tesh (22) , René A. van Der Vlugt (23) , Arvind Varsani (24) , F. Murilo Zerbini (25)

1 University of Oxford
2 UH - University of Hertfordshire [Hatfield]
3 MTA - Hungarian Academy of Sciences
4 College of Marine Science [St Petersburg, FL]
5 NCBI - National Center for Biotechnology Information
6 Queen's University [Kingston, Canada]
7 University of Glasgow
8 Blood Systems Research Institute
9 Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)
10 MSU - Lomonosov Moscow State University
11 John Innes Centre [Norwich]
12 The Pirbright Institute
13 BMGE - Biologie Moléculaire du Gène chez les Extrêmophiles
14 NIAID-NIH - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [Bethesda]
15 UAB - University of Alabama at Birmingham [ Birmingham]
16 HMS - Harvard Medical School [Boston]
17 Penn State - Pennsylvania State University
18 Mississippi State University [Mississippi]
19 OSU - Ohio State University [Columbus]
20 UBC EOAS - Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences [Vancouver]
21 CIFAR - Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
22 UTMB - The University of Texas Medical Branch
23 WUR - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]
24 ASU - Arizona State University [Tempe]
25 UFV - Universidade Federal de Viçosa = Federal University of Viçosa

The number and diversity of viral sequences that are identified in metagenomic data far exceeds that of experimentally characterized virus isolates. In a recent workshop, a panel of experts discussed the proposal that, with appropriate quality control, viruses that are known only from metagenomic data can, and should be, incorporated into the official classification scheme of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Although a taxonomy that is based on metagenomic sequence data alone represents a substantial departure from the traditional reliance on phenotypic properties, the development of a robust framework for sequence-based virus taxonomy is indispensable for the comprehensive characterization of the global virome. In this Consensus Statement article, we consider the rationale for why metagenomic sequence data should, and how it can, be incorporated into the ICTV taxonomy, and present proposals that have been endorsed by the Executive Committee of the ICTV.

Domains: Virology; Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy

Peter Simmonds, Mike J. Adams, Mária Benkő, Balázs Harrach, Mya Breitbart, et al.. Consensus statement: Virus taxonomy in the age of metagenomics. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2017, 15 (3), pp.161-168. ⟨10.1038/nrmicro.2016.177⟩. ⟨pasteur-01977366⟩