Tomato black ring virus
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Tomato black ring virus
Classification
Higher order taxa
Virus; ssRNA viruses; ssRNA positive-strand viruses, no DNA stage; Picornavirales; Comoviridae; Nepovirus; Subgroup B
Description and Significance
Tomato Black Ring Virus (TBRV) is a RNA-containing virus that occurs in Europe. It infects a wide range of herbaceous and wood monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous species including many that are important crop plants. In addition to black ring of tomato, the various strains of this virus cause ringspot diseases of bean, sugarbeet, lettuce, raspberry and strawberry, yellow vein of celery,shoot-stunting of peach and unnamed diseases of leek and onion. It occurs in many other plants, including cabbae, grapevine and lucerne.
Genome structure
Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence?
The TBRV has isometric particles 28 nm in diameter with hexagonal outlines. In purified preparations particles exist as three sedimenting components with sedimentation coefficients (S20,w) of 55S, 97S and 121S, termed T, M and B, respectively. All particles consist of 60 protein subunits each of molecular weight 57 000 but, whereas T particles are nucleic acid-free protein shells, M and B particles contain linear ssRNA with molecular weight of 1.7 x 10^6 and 2.7 x 10^6, respectively. Some virus isolates contain in addition a satellite RNA of molecular weight 0.5 x 10^6. Several different satellites have been described for different TBRV isolates.
Cell structure and metabolism
Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.
Ecology
Habitat; symbiosis; contributions to the environment.
Pathology
How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.
Current Research
Enter summarries of the most rescent research here--at least three required
References
Edited by student of Emily Lilly at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
