Ranavirus Taxonomy and Phylogeny

Ranaviruses (genus Ranavirus , family Iridoviridae ) are large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses that infect economically and ecologically important cold-blooded vertebrates worldwide. Taxonomically, ranaviruses belong to a monophyletic group of viruses referred to as the Nucleocytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDV). The NCLDV cluster contains viruses with the largest known viral genomes and infects a diverse array of eukaryotic hosts. The family Iridoviridae is currently divided into five genera: Iridovirus , Chloriridovirus , Megalocytivirus , Lymphocystivirus , and Ranavirus . Ranavirus taxonomy is based on restriction endonuclease fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles of genomic DNA, virus protein profiles, DNA sequence analysis, and host specificity as well as whole genome dot plot analysis and phylogenetic analysis of individual and concatenated gene sequences. In this chapter, we discuss the current taxonomy of the genus Ranavirus as well as the phylogenetic relationship among currently identified ranaviruses. In addition, we discuss the future of ranavirus taxonomy in light of current phylogenetic analyses. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.