Changes to virus taxonomy and to the International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2021)

Peter J Walker (1) , Stuart G Siddell (2) , Elliot J Lefkowitz (3) , Arcady R Mushegian (4) , Evelien M Adriaenssens (5) , Poliane Alfenas-Zerbini (6) , Andrew J Davison (7) , Donald M Dempsey (3) , Bas E Dutilh (8) , María Laura García (9) , Balázs Harrach (10) , Robert L Harrison (11) , R Curtis Hendrickson (3) , Sandra Junglen (12) , Nick J Knowles (13) , Mart Krupovic (14) , Jens H Kuhn (15) , Amy J Lambert (16) , Małgorzata Łobocka (17) , Max L Nibert (18) , Hanna M Oksanen (19) , Richard J Orton (7) , David L Robertson (7) , Luisa Rubino (20) , Sead Sabanadzovic (21) , Peter Simmonds (22) , Donald B Smith (22) , Nobuhiro Suzuki (23) , Koenraad van Dooerslaer (24) , Anne-Mieke Vandamme (25, 26) , Arvind Varsani (27) , Francisco Murilo Zerbini (6)

1 UQ [All campuses : Brisbane, Dutton Park Gatton, Herston, St Lucia and other locations] - The University of Queensland
2 University of Bristol [Bristol]
3 UAB - University of Alabama at Birmingham [ Birmingham]
4 NSF - National Science Foundation [Arlington]
5 QIB - Quadram Institute Bioscience [Norwich, U.K.]
6 UFV - Universidade Federal de Viçosa = Federal University of Viçosa
7 MRC - University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
8 Universiteit Utrecht / Utrecht University [Utrecht]
9 CONICET - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires]
10 AOTI - Institute for Veterinary Medical Research [Budapest]
11 Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory [Beltsville, USA]
12 Charité - UniversitätsMedizin = Charité - University Hospital [Berlin]
13 The Pirbright Institute
14 Virologie des archées - Archaeal Virology
15 IRF-Frederick - Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick
16 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
17 PAN - Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences = Académie polonaise des sciences
18 HMS - Harvard Medical School [Boston]
19 Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki
20 IPSP - CNR Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante [Torino, Italia]
21 Mississippi State University [Mississippi]
22 University of Oxford
23 Okayama University
24 University of Arizona
25 KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
26 NOVA - Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon
27 ASU - Arizona State University [Tempe]

This article reports the changes to virus taxonomy approved and ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) in March 2021. The entire ICTV was invited to vote on 290 taxonomic proposals approved by the ICTV Executive Committee at its meeting in October 2020, as well as on the proposed revision of the International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature (ICVCN). All proposals and the revision were ratified by an absolute majority of the ICTV members. Of note, ICTV mandated a uniform rule for virus species naming, which will follow the binomial 'genus-species' format with or without Latinized species epithets. The Study Groups are requested to convert all previously established species names to the new format. ICTV has also abolished the notion of a type species, i.e., a species chosen to serve as a name-bearing type of a virus genus. The remit of ICTV has been clarified through an official definition of 'virus' and several other types of mobile genetic elements. The ICVCN and ICTV Statutes have been amended to reflect these changes.

Domaines: Virologie

Peter J Walker, Stuart G Siddell, Elliot J Lefkowitz, Arcady R Mushegian, Evelien M Adriaenssens, et al.. Changes to virus taxonomy and to the International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2021). Archives of Virology, 2021, 166 (9), pp.2633-2648. ⟨10.1007/s00705-021-05156-1⟩. ⟨pasteur-03318878⟩