Whole-genome phylogenetic analysis of herpesviruses.

A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of 45 herpesviruses was performed based on whole-genome sequences. We used 4 methods, namely the alignment of conserved gene sequences (excluding 5 herpesviruses), compositional vector tree (CVTree) method, local homology analysis, and gene content analysis. The obtained results showed good consistency between the phylogenetic trees prepared by these methods and likewise, the obtained classification of the herpesviruses was consistent with their current taxonomic designation. The herpesviruses with the ambiguous classification or not assigned in the family or with the newly published genomes were also phylogenetically classified.