Virology is the study of viruses – submicroscopic, parasitic particles of genetic material contained in a protein coat – and virus-like agents. It focuses on the following aspects of viruses: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy. Virology is a subfield of microbiology.
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus species in the genus Tobamovirus that infects a wide range of plants, especially tobacco and other members of the family Solanaceae. The infection causes characteristic patterns, such as "mosaic"-like mottling and discoloration on the leaves. TMV was the first virus to be discovered. Although it was known from the late 19th century that a non-bacterial infectious disease was damaging tobacco crops, it was not until 1930 that the infectious agent was determined to be a virus. It is the first pathogen identified as a virus.
Plant viruses are viruses that affect plants. Like all other viruses, plant viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that do not have the molecular machinery to replicate without a host. Plant viruses can be pathogenic to higher plants.
Schlumbergera is a small genus of cacti with six to nine species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil. These plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Most species of Schlumbergera have stems which resemble leaf-like pads joined one to the other and flowers which appear from areoles at the joints and tips of the stems. Two species have cylindrical stems more similar to other cacti. Recent phylogenetic studies using DNA have led to three species of the related genus Hatiora being transferred into Schlumbergera, though this change is not universally accepted.
The glassy-winged sharpshooter is a large leafhopper insect from the family Cicadellidae, similar to other species of sharpshooter.
Tobamovirus is a genus of positive-strand RNA viruses in the family Virgaviridae. Many plants, including tobacco, potato, tomato, and squash, serve as natural hosts. Diseases associated with this genus include: necrotic lesions on leaves. The name Tobamovirus comes from the host and symptoms of the first virus discovered.
Plum pox, also known as sharka, is the most devastating viral disease of stone fruit from the genus Prunus. The disease is caused by the plum pox virus (PPV), and the different strains may infect a variety of stone fruit species including peaches, apricots, plums, nectarine, almonds, and sweet and tart cherries. Wild and ornamental species of Prunus may also become infected by some strains of the virus.
Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) is a typical potyvirus, which causes one of the major virus diseases of lettuce crops worldwide.
Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is a viral species of the genus Closterovirus that causes the most economically damaging disease to its namesake plant genus, Citrus. The disease has led to the death of millions of Citrus trees all over the world and has rendered millions of others useless for production. Farmers in Brazil and other South American countries gave it the name "tristeza", meaning sadness in Portuguese and Spanish, referring to the devastation produced by the disease in the 1930s. The virus is transmitted most efficiently by the brown citrus aphid.
Mycoviruses, also known as mycophages, are viruses that infect fungi. The majority of mycoviruses have double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genomes and isometric particles, but approximately 30% have positive-sense, single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) genomes.
Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) is a pathogenic plant virus in the genus Potyvirus and the virus family Potyviridae which primarily infects the papaya tree.
Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV), of genus Hordevirus, is an RNA viral plant pathogen whose main hosts are barley and wheat. The common symptoms for BSMV are yellow streaks or spots, mosaic, leaves and stunted growth. It is spread primarily through infected seed and can be spread through mechanical transfer of an infected and uninfected host. Plants infected with BSMV are more symptomatic in warmer temperatures. Resistant hosts and sterilization of equipment are the best ways to control the spread of the pathogen. BSMV has been known to reduce the yields of barley by up to 25%, but is not a major problem because of resistant varieties of barley.
Beet curly top virus (BCTV) is a pathogenic plant virus of the family Geminiviridae, containing a single-stranded DNA. The family Geminiviridae consists of nine genera based on their host range, virus genome structure, and type of insect vector. BCTV is a Curtovirus affecting hundreds of plants. The only known vector is the beet leafhopper, which is native to the Western United States.
Peanut mottle virus(PeMoV) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Potyviridae. As with other members of this virus family, PeMoV is a flexuous filamentous virus with particles 740-750 nm long. It is transmitted by several species of aphids and by mechanical inoculation. It was first given its name in 1965 when it was isolated from peanuts in Georgia, USA. This virus was found to be seed transmitted in this host.
Virology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in virology. Established in 1955 by George Hirst, Lindsay Black and Salvador Luria, it is the earliest English-only journal to specialise in the field. The journal covers basic research into viruses affecting animals, plants, bacteria and fungi, including their molecular biology, structure, assembly, pathogenesis, immunity, interactions with the host cell, evolution and ecology. Molecular aspects of control and prevention are also covered, as well as viral vectors and gene therapy, but clinical virology is excluded. As of 2013, the journal is published fortnightly by Elsevier.
Carlavirus, formerly known as the "Carnation latent virus group", is a genus of viruses in the order Tymovirales, in the family Betaflexiviridae. Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently 53 species in this genus including the type species Carnation latent virus. Diseases associated with this genus include: mosaic and ringspot symptoms.
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 6,000 virus species have been described in detail of the millions of types of viruses in the environment. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a subspeciality of microbiology.
Alternanthera mosaic virus (AltMV) is a plant pathogenic virus. AltMV belongs to the virus genus Potexvirus and the virus family Alphaflexiviridae.
Passion fruit woodiness virus (PWV) is a plant pathogenic virus in the genus Potyvirus and the virus family Potyviridae. Like other members of the genus Potyvirus, PWV is a monopartite strand of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA surrounded by a capsid made for a single viral encoded protein. The virus is a filamentous particle that measures about 745 nm in length.
In biology, a pathogen in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.
