The Baltimore Classification of Viruses 50 Years Later: How Does It Stand in the Light of Virus Evolution?

ABSTRACT: Fifty years ago, David Baltimore published a brief conceptual paper delineating the classification of viruses by the routes of genome expression. The six "Baltimore classes" of viruses, with a subsequently added 7th class, became the conceptual framework for the development of virology during the next five decades. During this time, it became clear that the Baltimore classes, with relatively minor additions, indeed cover the diversity of virus genome expression schemes that also define the replication cycles. Here, we examine the status of the Baltimore classes 50 years after their advent and explore their links with the global ecology and biology of the respective viruses. We discuss an extension of the Baltimore scheme and why many logically admissible expression-replication schemes do n

SUBMITTER: Koonin EV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8483701 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature