Launch of VICTOR, the Virus Classification and Tree Building Online Resource

I’m delighted to announce the launch of our novel web service VICTOR. It allows for the comparison of up to 100 bacterial and archaeal viruses (“phages”) using either their genome or proteome sequences. The results include phylogenomic trees inferred using the Genome-BLAST Distance Phylogeny method (GBDP), with branch support, as well as suggestions for the classification at the species, genus and family level. The methods were validated against a comprehensive taxonomic reference dataset accepted by the ICTV with respect to phylogenetic as well as clustering algorithms. We are confident that this service will be beneficial for phage taxonomy in particular as well as for a deeper understanding of phage evolution in general. Further information on the scientific background, the underlying paper etc. are found in the VICTOR FAQ.