Executive Meeting of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses

Abstract

Definitions of virus species based on biological (gene pools), ecological (niches), evolutionary (lineages), or phenetic (morphology) criteria were considered and rejected. The concept of the polythetic species, on the other hand, found general favour since it can accommodate the inherent variability of viruses and it does not depend on the existence of a unique diagnostic feature. A polythetic class is distinguished from an ordinary class in the members of the former need not have any single property in common. Each member of a polythetic class is defined by more than one property, and no single property is necessary or sufficient for membership of a polythetic class.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1991
Accession Number
ADA246824

Entities

People

  • Roger N. Beachy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Animals
  • Classification
  • Congress
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Dna Viruses
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Health Services
  • Infectious Diseases
  • International Organizations
  • Microbiology
  • Plant Viruses
  • Rna Viruses
  • Viral Structures
  • Virology
  • Virus Diseases
  • Viruses

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Munitions and Ordnance Engineering
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Theoretical Analysis.