On Classification and Taxonomy of Coronaviruses (Riboviria, Nidovirales, Coronaviridae) with special focus on severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2)

Abstract

Coronaviruses are highly pathogenic and therefore important human and veterinary pathogens viruses worldwide (1). Members of family Coronaviridae have previously been analysed phylogenetically, resulting in proposals of virus interrelationships (2–5). However, available Coronavirus phylogenies remain unrooted, based on limited sampling, and normally depend on a single method (2–11). The main subjects of this study are the taxonomy and systematics of coronaviruses and our goal is to build the first natural classification of Coronaviridae using several methods of cladistic analyses (12), Maximum Likelihood method, as well as rigorous taxonomic sampling, making the most accurate representation of Coronaviridae’s relationships to date. Nomenclature recommendations to help effectively incorporate principles of binary nomenclature into Coronaviridae taxonomy are provided. We have stressed that no member of Sarbecovirus clade is an ancestor of SARS-Cov-2, and humans are the only known host.