Baltimore classification
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Phone:617-525-6884
Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [2] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.
Overview
Added The Baltimore classification is a classification system which groups viruses into families depending on their type of genome (DNA, RNA, single-stranded (ss), double-stranded (ds) etc.) and their method of replication.
It was created by the American biologist David Baltimore and is the preferred way of classifying viruses today. Other classifications are determined by the type of disease the virus causes (localised, disseminated, persistent, etc.) or its morphology (spherical, dodecahedral, etc.). Neither are particularly satisfactory because very different viruses will sometimes cause the same disease (e.g. hepatitis), and viruses with similar structures will often behave very differently (what's more, the precise structure of viruses is often difficult to determine under the microscope).
Classifications
Classifying viruses according to their genome means that those in a given category will all behave in much the same way, which offers some indication of how to proceed with further research.
- Type I: dsDNA viruses (Herpesviridae, Poxviridae, Adenoviridae and Papovaviridae)
- Type II: ssDNA viruses (Circoviridae and Parvoviridae)
- Type III: dsRNA viruses (Reoviridae and Birnaviridae)
- Type IV: positive sense ssRNA viruses (Astroviridae, Caliciviridae, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Picornaviridae, Arteriviridae and Togaviridae)
- Type V: negative sense ssRNA viruses (Arenaviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Bunyaviridae, Filoviridae and Rhabdoviridae)
- Type VI: positive sense ssRNA viruses that replicate through a DNA intermediate (Reverse transcriptase) (Retroviridae)
- Type VII: dsDNA viruses with ssRNA intermediates (Reverse transcriptase)(Hepadnaviridae)
See also
References
"Virus Taxonomy Portal." (Website.) Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center & Viral Bioinformatics - Canada. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
External links
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
