The naming of viruses: an urgent call to order
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Virology Division News Arch Virol 144/3 (1999)
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Virology Division News
The naming of viruses: an urgent call to order* L. Bos DLO Research Institute for Plant Protection (IPO-DLO), Wageningen, The Netherlands
Introduction Science aims to describe reality for the reliable storage and retrieval of information, and to allow trustworthy communication and efficacy of human interference. This requires precision with respect to the identification of organisms, objects, and phenomena; in short, of any item, so that we know what we are talking about. Precision must be optimal, for example, where economic effects of pathogens, including viruses, are concerned and where legal conflicts may ensue. Nomenclature and the classification on which it is based cannot be enforced by regular law however, other than in technology and commerce. For widest acceptance, consensus among professionals is required, as achieved or stimulated through learned societies in their relevant fields. That is how the nomenclature of viruses depends on agreements reached within the International Committee on Nomenclature of Viruses (ICTV) of the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies, as summarised in the International Code for Virus Classification and Nomenclature [9]. The rules defined by the Code should promote precision in communication on viruses instead of reducing the means of attaining exactitude. That is why I felt shocked by recent decisions taken by the ICTV [7]. These decisions also conflict in various ways with well-established biological nomenclature and convention. What is up? Nomenclature of organisms First some remarks on biological nomenclature in general. For plants and animals, naming originally employed phrases; that is, rather lengthy descriptions of the organisms indicated to make clear what was meant. An example is Sambucus caule arboreo ramoso floribus umbellatis for (European) elder. For efficiency and to increase precision, Linnaeus was the first to use a scientific form of naming, the classification-based binary nomenclature, that has withstood the wear and tear of time. The binomial system encodes much information in two words, in fact, which are codes indicating the position of the species amongst other species. A species name begins with the genus affiliation (a proper noun written with a * This article, commenting on recent decisions of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, has been submitted in the form of a Letter to the Editor. A response from the ICTV concerning the points discussed by Dr. Bos will be printed in a future issue of Virology Division News [C. P.].
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capital initial, e.g. Sambucus for elder-like, or Mentha for mint), thus referring to the range of characteristics that the species has in common with similar species. It adds a particular species epithet (an adjective which is never written with a capital initial) to describe how it differs morphologically or ecologically from the rest of the genus. For example, Sambucus nigr
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