Begomovirus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The genus Begomovirus contains greater than 100 species and belongs to the Geminiviridae family. They are plant viruses that as a group have a wide host range, infecting dicotyledonous plants. Worldwide they are responsible for a large amount of economical damage to many crops such as tomatoes, beans, squash, cassava and cotton.
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[edit] Morphology
Virus particles are non-enveloped. The nucleocaspid is 38nm long and 15-22nm in diameter. It has isocaherdal symmetry. There are 22 capsomeres per nucleocapsid.
[edit] Genome
Single stranded closed circular DNA. Most Begomovirus have a bipartile genome, this means that the genome is segmented into two segments (referred to as DNA A and DNA B) that are packaged into separate particles. Both segments are required for successful infection in a host cell.
[edit] Transmission
The virus is transmitted by an insect vector, whitefly of the Bermisia tabaci species. This vector allows rapid and efficient propagation of the virus because it is an indiscriminate feeder.
[edit] Disease
The type species Potato yellow mosaic virus (PYMV) is a Begomovirus, first identified in the late 1980’s, that causes an infection in tomatoes. Disease is manifest in the infected plant as yellow mosaic or mottling, leaf distortion and crinkling and stunting. In Trinidad this disease in tomato is endemic and causes an estimated yield loss of 50-60%. PYMV disease is also an economical problem in the Caribbean. The type species Bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV) also belongs to the Begomovirus genus. It causes a serious disease in bean species within Central America, the Caribbean and southern Florida.
[edit] References
Notes on Genus: Begomovirus [1]
Plant Viruses Microbiology @ Leicester [2]
Mansoor. S, Briddon. RW, Zafar. Y and Stanley. J (2003). Geminivirus disease complexes: an emerging threat. Trends in plant sciences. 8 (3): 128-34. [3]
Briddon. RW, and Stanley. J (2006). Subviral agents associated with plant single-stranded DNA viruses. Virology 344 (1): 198-210 [4]
Proposed Strategies for Begomovirus Disease Management in Tomato in Trinidad [5]
Bean golden yellow mosaic virus [6]
- Sinisterra, XH., McKenzie, CL, Hunter, WB, Shatters, RG, Jr. 2005. Differential transcriptional activity of plant pathogenic Begomoviruses in their whitefly vector(Bemisia tabaci, Gennadius: Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). J. General Virology 86: 1525-32.
- Hunter, WB, Hiebert, E, Webb, SE, Tsai, JH, & JE. Polston. 1998. Location of geminiviruses in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Plant Disease, Vol. 82: 1147-1151.
