key: cord-0005012-jwqyh16m authors: Fauquet, C.M.; Pringle, C.R. title: Abbreviations for vertebrate virus species names date: 2014-05-20 journal: Arch Virol DOI: 10.1007/s007050050711 sha: bb5744a9edacbe6298c66f07a8cd8c009ab9b49c doc_id: 5012 cord_uid: jwqyh16m nan Plant virologists have taken the initiative in the development of a standardized system of abbreviation of virus names in response to the particular problems associated with the naming of plant viruses [1] [2] [3] . There is now a compelling case for extending these efforts to embrace all viruses irrespective of their host organisms. Increasing awareness of the diversity of viruses and greater reliance on storage of information in electronic databases call for standardization of abbreviations to avoid ambiguity. The accurate recovery of information from databases is dependent on the existence of unique abbreviations for virus names. For example, the species name Hepatitis C virus is often abbreviated to HCV in the titles of papers and currently approximately 20% of the publications in the Medline database can only be accessed using the abbreviation rather than the virus name. Fortunately in this case there is no significant overlap. In other cases there can be confusion. For example, the abbreviation RSV is not unique and a database search will recover papers on Rous sarcoma virus, Rice stripe virus, Human respiratory syncytial virus and Bovine respiratory syncytial virus. In its 7th Report [4] the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) has recommended the use of RSV for Rous sarcoma virus on grounds of historical priority, and HuRSV and BRSV for human and bovine respiratory syncytial viruses respectively. Although the overlap with Rice stripe virus remains unresolved, in practice it causes little confusion. However, it would be better if the overlap did not exist. There are now some 4,000 virus names listed by the ICTV and without some conventions it will become increasingly difficult to devise unique abbreviations for every virus. This list of receoomended abbreviations for vertebrate virus species names is being published as a reference document to diminish the risk of duplication when new abbreviations are proposed. Although the ICTV is responsible for controlling, approving and recording the names of virus taxa and has a formal International Code [5] that guides this activity, it has no constitutional responsibility for assigning abbreviations. Nonetheless it does assign a recommended abbreviation for every virus name. It is obviously a desirable aim that a standard abbreviation should be used for any particular virus in all publications. Three of the four principles governing the assignment of abbreviations to plant viruses [1] [2] [3] are also applicable to viruses infecting other organisms. These principles are the following: 1. that abbreviations should be the simplest possible; 2. that an abbreviation must not duplicate any other previously coined and still in current usage; 3. that the word "virus" in a name is abbreviated as "V". Plant virologists have compiled guidelines [3] indicating how the abbreviations used in the 7th ICTV Report [4] were derived, and advising how virologists should procede when creating new abbreviations. Several of the guidelines refer to the specific pathogenic effects of plant viruses on their hosts, but the following have applicability to other viruses: 1. Abbreviations that use the same letters, but differ only by the case used (upper or lower) should be avoided; 2. abbreviations for single words should not normaly exceed 2 letters; 3. secondary letters in abbreviations are omitted when their use would make the abbreviation excessively long, exceeding 5 letters; 4. abbreviations in current and widespread usage are retained except where their use could cause confusion. (It is accepted nonetheless that some abbreviations are unlikely ever to be changed.) The following list of abbreviations of the names of vertebrate viruses has been compiled from the 7th Report of the ICTV (4) to provide an accessible source of recommended abbreviations. The abbreviations listed in Table 1 are limited to the names of ratified virus species. The names of tentative species, serotypes, strains and other categories have been excluded. The immediate aim is to devise a catalogue of unique abbreviations for virus species. Some ambiguity can be tolerated in the assignment of abbreviations to categories below the species level provided that these abbreviations do not conflict with abbreviations asssigned to speceis. There are some anomalies in the naming of vertebrate viruses, which have still to be resolved. The problem is most acute in the case of arthropod-borne viruses. For example, in the families Arenaviridae and Bunyaviridae the names of several viruses are themselves still in the form of abbreviations and it is not appropriate to assign an additional abbreviation until a scientific name has been agreed. In other instances no abbreviation has been recommended by the ICTV Study Group; e.g. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus. In other situations an abbreviation applied to a synonym may have greater currency than the approved taxonomic name; e.g. EBV for Epstein-Barr virus is likely to be favored for some time by its familiarity rather than the abbreviation HHV-4 derived from the recently revised species name Human herpesvirus 4. Similarly there are some examples where the abbreviation corresponds to a synonym previously used and now out of usage like SFV for Rabbit fibroma virus (synonym Shope fibroma virus). The list in Table 1 is presented as a starting point for the progressive development of a system of unambiguous abbreviations of the names of vertebrate virus species. Table 2 identifies in alphabetical order the duplicated abbreviations in the current list. They are 14 duplications among the five hundred and ninety-two vertebrate virus species name abbreviations listed in Table 1 . These are listed in Table 2 . A further 8 cases of overlap are present in the list in Table 1 , which are not strictly duplications as they are differentiated addition of a number or a letter: i.e. A list of proposed standard acronyms for plant viruses and viroids Up-dated ICTV list of names and abbreviations of viruses, viroids and satellites infecting plants Abbreviations for plant virus names -1999 Virus Taxonomy. Seventh Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses A revised version of the International Code of Virus Classification andd Nomenclature Offsetdruck: Adolf Holzhausens Nachfolger, Kandlgasse 19-21, A-1070 Wien. -Herstellungsort: Wien CF is supported by IRD (formerly ORSTOM). We believe that publication of these lists will increase awareness of the need for the adoption of a uniform system of abbreviations of virus species names.