Guidance for creating individual and batch latinized binomial virus species names

Thomas S Postler (1) , Luisa Rubino (2) , Evelien M Adriaenssens (3) , Bas E Dutilh (4, 5) , Balázs Harrach (6) , Sandra Junglen (7) , Andrew M Kropinski (8) , Mart Krupovic (9) , Jiro Wada (10) , Anya Crane (10) , Jens H Kuhn (10) , Arcady Mushegian (11) , Jānis Rūmnieks (12) , Sead Sabanadzovic (13) , Peter Simmonds (14) , Arvind Varsani (15, 16) , F. Murilo Zerbini (17) , Julie Callanan (18) , Lorraine A Draper (18) , Colin Hill (18) , Stephen R Stockdale (18)

1 CUIMC - Columbia University Irving Medical Center
2 IPSP - Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante [Torino, Italia]
3 QIB - Quadram Institute Bioscience [Norwich, U.K.]
4 Friedrich-Schiller-Universität = Friedrich Schiller University Jena [Jena, Germany]
5 Utrecht University [Utrecht]
6 AOTI - Institute for Veterinary Medical Research [Budapest]
7 Humboldt University Of Berlin
8 University of Guelph
9 Virologie des archées - Archaeal Virology
10 NIH - National Institutes of Health [Bethesda]
11 NSF - National Science Foundation [Arlington]
12 Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre [Rīga]
13 Mississippi State University [Mississippi]
14 University of Oxford
15 ASU - Arizona State University [Tempe]
16 University of Cape Town
17 UFV - Universidade Federal de Viçosa = Federal University of Viçosa
18 UCC - University College Cork

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses recently adopted, and is gradually implementing, a binomial naming format for virus species. Although full Latinization of these names remains optional, a standardized nomenclature based on Latinized binomials has the advantage of comparability with all other biological taxonomies. As a language without living native speakers, Latin is more culturally neutral than many contemporary languages, and words built from Latin roots are already widely used in the language of science across the world. Conversion of established species names to Latinized binomials or creation of Latinized binomials de novo may seem daunting, but the rules for name creation are straightforward and can be implemented in a formulaic manner. Here, we describe approaches, strategies and steps for creating Latinized binomials for virus species without prior knowledge of Latin. We also discuss a novel approach to the automated generation of large batches of novel genus and species names. Importantly, conversion to a binomial format does not affect virus names, many of which are created from local languages.

Keywords: binomial; ICTV; International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses; Latinization; species name; virus nomenclature; virus taxonomy

Domains: Virology

Thomas S Postler, Luisa Rubino, Evelien M Adriaenssens, Bas E Dutilh, Balázs Harrach, et al.. Guidance for creating individual and batch latinized binomial virus species names. Journal of General Virology, 2022, 103 (12), pp.001800. ⟨10.1099/jgv.0.001800⟩. ⟨pasteur-03909709⟩