Virus Taxonomy in the 21st Century
On November 8, 2019, the ICTV Vice-President, Stuart Siddell, attended the annual SSS-Day of the Swiss Systematics Society at the invitation of the President, Alice Cibois. The meeting was held in the Natural History Museum, Basel and included speakers on a wide range of topics, from virus taxonomy to the evolution of Asian tree frogs. Of particular note, was the remarkable methodological diversity in the field of systematics; molecular phylogeny, comparative transcriptomics, comparative morphology, the biogeography of fossil remains, and many more. A particular highlight was the presentation by Yannick Städler (Vienna) on the X-ray computed tomography of plants, providing new insights into the plant phenotype for both systematic and evolutionary biology. Presentations were made by students and senior academics and were rounded off with a vote for the new Swiss species of the year, an alpine bee with the name of Andrena amieti. Dr Siddell greatly appreciated the learning experience and the opportunity to help connect those working on virus taxonomy, and those concerned with the taxonomy of their cellular hosts.