''Potyvirus'' is a genus of
positive-strand RNA virus
Positive-strand RNA viruses (+ssRNA viruses) are a group of related viruses that have positive-sense, single-stranded genomes made of ribonucleic acid. The positive-sense genome can act as messenger RNA (mRNA) and can be directly translated int ...
es in the family ''
Potyviridae
''Potyviridae'' is a family of positive-strand RNA viruses that encompasses more than 30% of known plant viruses, many of which are of great agricultural significance. The family has 12 genera and 235 species, three of which are unassigned to a ...
''. Plants serve as natural hosts. The genus is named after member virus ''
potato virus Y
Potato virus Y (PVY) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family ''Potyviridae'', and one of the most important plant viruses affecting potato production.
PVY infection of potato plants results in a variety of symptoms depending on the viral stra ...
''. Potyviruses account for about thirty percent of the currently known
plant 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.
M ...
es. Like
begomovirus
''Begomovirus'' is a genus of viruses, in the family ''Geminiviridae''. They are plant viruses that as a group have a very wide host range, infecting dicotyledonous plants. Worldwide they are responsible for a considerable amount of economic dam ...
es, members of this genus may cause significant losses in agricultural, pastoral,
horticultural
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, and
ornamental crops. More than 200 species of
aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...
s spread potyviruses, and most are from the subfamily ''
Aphidinae
Aphidinae is an aphid subfamily in the family Aphididae.
Many species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the la ...
'' (genera ''
Macrosiphum
''Macrosiphum'' is a genus of aphid. During the summer populations are made of parthenogenetic females. In the fall, males and females are produced; they mate and females lay eggs that overwinter. There are over 160 spp. in 3 subgenera.
Speci ...
'' and ''
Myzus
''Myzus'' is a genus of true bugs belonging to the family Aphididae.
The genus has cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in app ...
''). The genus contains 190 species.
Virology
Structure
The virion is
non-enveloped with a