The family Closteroviridae revised

• Published in: Archives of virology Vol. 147; no. 10; pp. 2039 - 2044
• Main Authors: Martelli, G P, Agranovsky, A A, Bar-Joseph, M, Boscia, D, Candresse, T, Coutts, R H A, Dolja, V V, Falk, B W, Gonsalves, D, Jelkmann, W, Karasev, A V, Minafra, A, Namba, S, Vetten, H J, Wisler, G C, Yoshikawa, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austria Springer Nature B.V 01-10-2002
• Subjects: Closteroviridae - classification; Phylogeny
• ISSN: 0304-8608; 1432-8798
• DOI: 10.1007/s007050200048

Recently obtained molecular and biological information has prompted the revision of the taxonomic structure of the family Closteroviridae. In particular, mealybug-transmitted species have been separated from the genus Closterovirus and accommodated in a new genus named Ampelovirus (from ampelos, Greek for grapevine). Thus, the family now comprises three genera. Their major properties are (i) Closterovirus: type species Beet yellows virus, genome monopartite, 15.5-19.3 kb in size, a 22-25 kDa major coat protein (CP), the gene encoding the divergent CP analogue (CPd) upstream of the CP cistron, transmission by aphids, a membership of 8 definitive and 4 tentative species; (ii) Ampelo-virus: type species Grapevine leafroll virus 3, genome monopartite 16.9-19.5 kb in size, a 35-37 kDa major CP, a CPd cistron generally located downstream of the CP gene, transmission by pseudococcid and coccid mealybugs, a membership of 6 definitive and 5 tentative species; (iii) Crinivirus: type species Lettuce infectious yellows virus, genome essentially bipartite 15.3-19 kb in size, a 28-33 kDa CP, a CPd cistron downstream of the CP gene, transmission by whiteflies (Bemisia, Trialeurodes), a membership of 7 definitive and 3 tentative species. There are five unassigned species in the family.