TY - JOUR
T1 - Perspective on taxonomic classification of uncultivated viruses
AU - Dutilh, Bas E.
AU - Varsani, Arvind
AU - Tong, Yigang
AU - Simmonds, Peter
AU - Sabanadzovic, Sead
AU - Rubino, Luisa
AU - Roux, Simon
AU - Muñoz, Alejandro Reyes
AU - Lood, Cédric
AU - Lefkowitz, Elliot J.
AU - Kuhn, Jens H.
AU - Krupovic, Mart
AU - Edwards, Robert A.
AU - Brister, J. Rodney
AU - Adriaenssens, Evelien M.
AU - Sullivan, Matthew B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Historically, virus taxonomy has been limited to describing viruses that were readily cultivated in the laboratory or emerging in natural biomes. Metagenomic analyses, single-particle sequencing, and database mining efforts have yielded new sequence data on an astounding number of previously unknown viruses. As metagenomes are relatively free of biases, these data provide an unprecedented insight into the vastness of the virosphere, but to properly value the extent of this diversity it is critical that the viruses are taxonomically classified. Inclusion of uncultivated viruses has already improved the process as well as the understanding of the taxa, viruses, and their evolutionary relationships. The continuous development and testing of computational tools will be required to maintain a dynamic virus taxonomy that can accommodate the new discoveries.
AB - Historically, virus taxonomy has been limited to describing viruses that were readily cultivated in the laboratory or emerging in natural biomes. Metagenomic analyses, single-particle sequencing, and database mining efforts have yielded new sequence data on an astounding number of previously unknown viruses. As metagenomes are relatively free of biases, these data provide an unprecedented insight into the vastness of the virosphere, but to properly value the extent of this diversity it is critical that the viruses are taxonomically classified. Inclusion of uncultivated viruses has already improved the process as well as the understanding of the taxa, viruses, and their evolutionary relationships. The continuous development and testing of computational tools will be required to maintain a dynamic virus taxonomy that can accommodate the new discoveries.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.coviro.2021.10.011
DO - 10.1016/j.coviro.2021.10.011
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34781105
SN - 1879-6257
VL - 51
SP - 207
EP - 215
JO - Current opinion in virology
JF - Current opinion in virology
ER -