AGRICULTURE | PLANT PATHOLOGY
Geminiviruses: Causal Agent of Devastating Plant Diseases
Geminiviruses replicate inside their host cell nucleus
Geminiviruses are single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ss-DNA) viruses with a genome size of 2.5–5.2 kilobases. They cause severe infections in many crops with heavy yield losses and are transmitted by various insects (whiteflies, leafhoppers, aphids, and treehoppers). The virion morphology of geminiviridae is comparatively uniques to other viral families. They consist of geminate particles with mono or bipartite genomes. The replication mode of geminiviruses is also distinctive to them because they replicate bi-directionally by rolling circle amplification (RCA) across the circular ss-DNA genome particles.
Despite being plant enemies, geminiviruses also serve as a model to understand plant cell cycle and growth.
Based on their host range, distinctive genome organizations, and insect vectors geminiviruses are classified into nine genera:
Becurtovirus
Begomovirus
