Varicosavirus Explained

Varicosavirus is a genus of plant viruses. The virus is associated with swelling in plant vein tissues. They are negative single stranded RNA viruses.^[1] The genus contains three species.

Taxonomy

The genus contains the following species:^[2]

• Alopecurus varicosavirus
• Lettuce big-vein associated varicosavirus
• Trifolium varicosavirus

Structure

Virions consist of a non-enveloped rod-shaped capsid, having a helical symmetry of 120–360 nm in length, and a width of 18–30 nm.

Genome

The genome consists of a bi-segmented linear, single-stranded negative sense RNA. The first segment is about 6350–7000 nucleotides in length; the second, about 5630–6500 nucleotides in length.^[3]

External links

• Viralzone: Varicosavirus

Notes and References

1. Kormelink R, Garcia ML, Goodin M, Sasaya T, Haenni AL . Negative-strand RNA viruses: the plant-infecting counterparts . Virus Res. . 162 . 1–2 . 184–202 . 2011 . 21963660 . 10.1016/j.virusres.2011.09.028 .
2. Web site: Virus Taxonomy: 2020 Release . International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) . March 2021 . 19 May 2021.
3. Sasaya T, Ishikawa K, Koganezawa H . The nucleotide sequence of RNA1 of Lettuce big-vein virus, genus Varicosavirus, reveals its relation to nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses . Virology . 297 . 2 . 289–97 . 2002 . 12083827 . 10.1006/viro.2002.1420. free .