Classification And Nomenclature Of Viruses

The practical need to partition the world of viruses into distinguishable, universally agreed upon entities is the ultimate justification for developing a virus classification system. Since 1971, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) operating on behalf of the world community of virologists has taken on the task of developing a single, universal taxonomic scheme for all viruses infecting animals (vertebrate, invertebrates, and protozoa), plants (higher plants and algae), fungi, bacteria, and archaea. The current report builds on the accumulated taxonomic construction of the eight previous reports dating back to 1971 and records the proceedings of the Committee since publication of the last report in 2005. Representing the work of more than 500 virologists worldwide, this report is the authoritative reference for virus organization, distinction, and structure.

The Fifth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), summarizes the proceedings and decisions reached by the ICTV at its meetings held at the International Congresses of Virology in Sendai (1984), Edmonton (1987) and Berlin (1990). This report has been organized in the same way as the previous ones (Wildy, 1971; Fenner, 1976; Matthews, 1979; 1982), yet it encompasses many more families and groups of viruses than previous reports, and it includes new tables, diagrams and keys. The officers and members of the ICTV study groups from 1984 to 1990 are listed, as the current ICTV statutes and rules of nomenclature. Information on the format for submission of new taxonomic proposals to the ICTV is also provided. Since the Fourth Report of the ICTV (1982), 19 new virus families and groups have been described. This report includes 2,430 viruses belonging to 73 families or groups, as well as virus satellites and viroids descriptions, but it does not include descriptions not approved by the ICTV. It now will be possible to publish such preliminary, and in some cases controversial, descriptions in the Virology Division pages of the Archives of Virology --this will allow virologists to carry on the kind of interim dialogue that is necessary for arriving at broad agreement on taxonomic matters.

Taxonomy is the naming and categorization of organisms. The first internationally organized attempts to introduce some order in the bewildering variety of viruses took place at the International Congress of Microbiology held in Moscow in 1966. A committee, later called the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), was given the task of developing a single, universal taxonomic scheme for all the viruses.

Virology Division. International Union of Microbiological Societies.

Part I: Introduction to Universal Virus Taxonomy. Part II: The Viruses. A Glossary of Abbreviations and Terms. Taxa Listed by Nucleic Acid and Size of the Genome. The Virus Diagrams. The Virus Particle Structures. The Order of Presentation of the Viruses. The Double Stranded DNA Viruses. The Single Stranded DNA Viruses. The DNA and RNA Reverse Transcribing Viruses. The Double Stranded RNA Viruses. The Negative Sense Single Stranded RNA Viruses. The Positive Sense Single Stranded RNA Viruses. The Unassigned Viruses. The Subviral Agents. Viroids. Satellites. Vertebrate Prions. Fungal Prions. Part III: The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Officers and Members of the ICTV, 1999-2002. The Statutes of the ICTV, 1998. The Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature,1998. Part IV: Indexs. Virus Indexs. Taxonomic Index.

"Brings up-to-date the work of the ICNV (whose name has since been changed to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)), as the situation stood after the last plenary meeting of ICTV in Madrid in September 1975."--Pref.

Virus Structure covers the full spectrum of modern structural virology. Its goal is to describe the means for defining moderate to high resolution structures and the basic principles that have emerged from these studies. Among the topics covered are Hybrid Vigor, Structural Folds of Viral Proteins, Virus Particle Dynamics, Viral Gemone Organization, Enveloped Viruses and Large Viruses. Covers viral assembly using heterologous expression systems and cell extracts Discusses molecular mechanisms in bacteriophage T7 procapsid assembly, maturation and DNA containment Includes information on structural studies on antibody/virus complexes