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Geminivirus classification and nomenclature: progress and problems
Author(s) -
FAUQUET CLAUDE M,
STANLEY JOHN
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.2003.tb00241.x
Subject(s) - biology , virus classification , confusion , nomenclature , geminiviridae , taxonomy (biology) , classification scheme , realisation , genealogy , plant virus , genome , genetics , computer science , begomovirus , information retrieval , zoology , virus , history , psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , gene , psychoanalysis
Summary During the last few years there has been some confusion among geminivirologists about how to determine the taxonomic status of a geminivirus and provide appropriate names for newly discovered viruses. The Seventh Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) published in 2000, that provides guidelines for classification within the family Geminiviridae , is rapidly becoming obsolete, due mainly to the large number of complete genomic sequences that have become available. These sequences have provided a wealth of information with which to establish a coherent and durable taxonomic system, although the realisation that frequent inter‐species recombination events occur has introduced an additional level of complexity. This has resulted in a number of individual initiatives that were not fully compatible with current classification. The Geminiviridae Study Group of the ICTV exploited the last two International Geminivirus Workshops, held in Puerto Rico (1998) and Norwich, UK (2001), to debate some of the issues arising, allowing taxonomic proposals to be formulated that are in the process of being accepted by the ICTV for publication in the Eighth Report due in 2004. The present paper reviews these established principles and provides a reference with which to name and classify geminiviruses appropriately.