Tenuivirus

Tenuivirus is a plant virus genus, of which the type member is Rice stripe virus. Other members of this genera include Maize stripe virus, Rice hoja blanca virus, and Iranian wheat strip virus. These plant viruses cause diseases in their host plants. Typical symptoms are chlorotic stripes on the affected leaves. This group of viruses also make viral inclusions in infected cells which can be diagnostic.

Virology

The virion particle consists of non-enveloped nucleocapsids that exhibit helical symmetry, forming thin, filamentous structures between 500–2100 nm long. The genomes are segmented and consist of four to six strands of negative-sense single-stranded RNA and the N-protein. These viruses are transmitted by an arthropod vectors in the families Cicadellidae or Delphacidae.

Tenuivirus genome is segmented and has an ambisense coding strategy.

Diseases

Maize stripe disease, thought to be caused by Maize stripe virus, is a disease of Maize that is characterized by leaf blight and stunting of the plant. Rice stripe virus and Rice hoja blanca virus has been shown to cause Rice stripe disease and Rice hoja blanca disease respectively, resulting in leaf blight and death of rice plants . Rice grassy stunt disease is caused by Rice grassy stunt virus which results in stunting of rice plants and an excessive tiller

Taxonomy

Tenuivirus has close phylogenic relationship with members of the genus Tospovirus, the virions of which are bounded with an envelope. Tenuivirus encodes a membrane protein precursor that is homologue to the virion envelope protein of Tospoviridae, although no envelope was found to associate with Tenuivirus virion.

References

• ICTVdB—The Universal Virus Database, version 3.
• Viralzone: Tenuivirus