Viruses Genomes - ARTICHOKE MOTTLED CRINKLE VIRUS

Artichoke mottled crinkle virus (AMCV) is a member of the genus Tombusvirus, genus of plant viruses that infects angiosperms. This disease is found in Mediterranean countries that produce artichokes and was first reported in Cynara scolymus from Italy.

The pathological manifestations of the disease appear in autumn and are most intense during winter. The virus can survive in the soil and remains infectious for a long time. The vector is unknown and no other natural host plant is known.

Affected plants have a rickety appearance. The leaves blister and deform. The lamina of the leaf is covered with large irregular spots that are pale green to whitish in colour, resembling a mozaic. The youngest leaves appear wrinkled, blistered, asymetrical, and are often reduced to a single principal vein with small pieces of tissue on each side. The most severely affected plants rarely produce fruit and die prematurely. Their capitula are malformed, being smaller in size and are altered both in form and colour at the bract level.

Experimentally infected plants mostly show necrotic local lesions, systemic mosaic, necrosis and death.

The genome has been cloned and sequenced, and infectious transcripts have been obtained. The researchers concluded that they have found the first difinitive evidence that the AMCV ORF 1 and ORF 2 gene products p33 and p92 are the only viral proteins absolutely required for tombusvirus replication.

References:

http://www.inra.fr/Internet/Produits/HYP3/pathogene/6armcvi.htm
http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/descr042.htm