Abaca bunchy top virus (ABTV) is a

pathogenic In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

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 ...

of the family ''

Nanoviridae ''Nanoviridae'' is a family of viruses. Plants serve as natural hosts. There are currently 12 species in this family, divided among 2 genera and one unassigned species. Diseases associated with this family include: stunting. Their name is derive ...

''. ABTV has been isolated from both abacá (''Musa textilis'') and

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

(Musa sp.). ABTV has many similarities to

banana bunchy top virus ''Banana bunchy top virus'' (BBTV) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Nanoviridae known for infecting banana plants and other crops. It is aphid transmitted. Definition Banana bunchy top is a viral disease caused by a single-stranded ...

(BBTV) but is both genetically and serologically distinct in that it lacks two

open reading frame In molecular biology, open reading frames (ORFs) are defined as spans of DNA sequence between the start and stop codons. Usually, this is considered within a studied region of a prokaryotic DNA sequence, where only one of the six possible readin ...

s found in BBTV's genome. ATBV's genome contains six circular components, each of which are 1,000-1,500

base pair A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...

s in length. __TOC__

Spread

The virus, first detected in 1915 at Silang, Cavite, Philippines, has since spread to various provinces in the country, and damaged more than of abacá plantations in 2002 alone.

Resistance

In 2009,

University of the Philippines Los Baños The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB; fil, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Los Baños), also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi (), is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay ...

researchers funded by the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

developed an abacá variety that is resistant to the ABTV. The university is working further to make it resistant to mosaic and

abacá bract mosaic virus Abaca bract mosaic virus (ABrMV) is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Potyviridae. Attempts have been made to sequence ABrMV. The virus is said to be a significant pathogen of the abaca, along with the Abaca bunchy top virus. Banana b ...

es.

References

Banana diseases Viral plant pathogens and diseases Nanoviridae {{Virus-plant-disease-stub