title: On the classification and nomenclature of baculoviruses: a proposal for revision.
abstract: Recent evidence from genome sequence analyses demands a substantial revision of the taxonomy and classification of the family Baculoviridae. Comparisons of 29 baculovirus genomes indicated that baculovirus phylogeny followed the classification of the hosts more closely than morphological traits that have previously been used for classification of this virus family. On this basis, dipteran- and hymenopteran-specific nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPV) should be separated from lepidopteran-specific NPVs and accommodated into different genera. We propose a new classification and nomenclature for the genera within the baculovirus family. According to this proposal the updated classification should include four genera: Alphabaculovirus (lepidopteran-specific NPV), Betabaculovirus (lepidopteran-specific Granuloviruses), Gammabaculovirus (hymenopteran-specific NPV) and Deltabaculovirus (dipteran-specific NPV).
authors.affiliation: Abteilung Phytomedizin, DLR Rheinpfalz, Neustadt/Wstr, Germany.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jehle
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Blissard
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Bonning
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Cory
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Herniou
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Rohrmann
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Theilmann
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Thiem
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vlak
mesh_terms: D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D010802:Phylogeny; D009626:Terminology as Topic