Summary of taxonomy changes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) from the Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee, 2025
Dann Turner, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Rudolf Amann, Pavol Bárdy, Nina Bartlau, Jakub Barylski, Stanisław Błażejak, Majid Bouzari, Ariane Briegel, Yves Briers, Daniel Carrillo, Xia Chen, Dennis Claessen, Ryan Cook, Marco A. Crisci, Arnaud Dechesne, Paulina Deptula, Bas E. Dutilh, Bert Ely, Lars Fieseler, Paul C. M. Fogg, Akihito Fukudome, Mohammed Saeed Ganjoor, Iwona Gientka, Karin Holmfeldt, Panos G. Kalatzis, Kathryn M. Kauffman, Annabel Kempff, Petar Knežević, Eugene V. Koonin, Andrew M. Kropinski, Mart Krupovìč, D. İpek Kurtböke, Kai S Lambon, Rob Lavigne, Susan M. Lehman, Hui Liu, Cédric Lood, Rudi Lurz, Sari Mäntynen, Cole B. Matrishin, Mathias Middelboe, Andrew Millard, Cristina Moraru, Dennis Sandris Nielsen, Franklin L. Nóbrega, Takuro Nunoura, Hanna M. Oksanen, Véronique Ongenae, Boris Parra, Célia Pas, Joseph Pogliano, Minna M. Poranen, Siravudh Potipimpanon, Amy Prichard, Hannah V. Pye, Daniela Rothschild-Rodriguez, Daniel E. Rozen, Joanne M. Santini, Sha Yu, Dziyana Shymialevich, Barbara Sokołowska, Abbas Soleimani-Delfan, Paulina Średnicka, Paulo Tavares, Andrea Telatin, Igor Tolstoy, Shyun-ichi Urayama, Vera van Neer, Finn K. Vogensen, Qiannan Wen, Antje Wichels, Michał Wójcicki
Abstract
This article summarises the activities of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee, detailing developments in the classification of bacterial viruses. We provide here an overview of all new, abolished, moved and renamed taxa proposed in 2024, approved by the Executive Committee, and ratified by membership vote in 2025. Through the collective efforts of 74 international contributors of taxonomy proposals in this round, 43 ratified proposals have led to the creation of one new phylum, one class, four orders, 33 families, 14 subfamilies, 194 genera and 995 species. These proposals mark significant progress in refining the taxonomy of bacterial viruses. Key updates include the creation of new orders and families that include existing taxa to better reflect genomic and evolutionary relationships. As sequencing and bioinformatics approaches continue to advance, further expansion and refinements in viral taxonomy can be anticipated in the coming years.