Perspective on taxonomic classification of uncultivated viruses

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.

Automated summary

The development of virus taxonomy relies on advances in metagenomic analysis and other technologies, which have brought a wealth of previously unknown virus sequence data and provided unprecedented insights into the vastness of the virosphere. Properly classifying viruses is crucial to understanding the diversity of viruses, and the inclusion of uncultivated viruses has already improved this process.