Taxonomy of the Rod-Shaped Filamentous Viruses

Abstract

In this account I have as far as possible adhered to the taxonomy and nomenclature set out by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) (Matthews, 1982) and circulated since then in unpublished proposals among members of the Plant Virus Subcommittee of the ICTV. I have also used as a guide the Descriptions of Plant Viruses published in England, formerly by the Commonwealth Mycological Institute (CMI) and the Association of Applied Biologists (AAB), and now by the AAB, and edited by A. F. Murant and B. D. Harrison. Three other publications that have been useful in writing this chapter and that will be of interest to the reader are those of Kurstak (1981), Francki et al. (1985), and Yora et al. (1983). Edwardson and Christie (1986a,b,c) have made an important survey of legume viruses, including many filamentous ones; Christie and Edwardson (1986) have summarized their work on light microscope techniques for detection of plant virus inclusions; Fauquet et al. (1986a,b) have made an interesting statistical analysis of the amino acid compositions of plant virus coat proteins in relation to classification; Tollin (1986) has reviewed the structure of filamentous plant viruses and their proteins; and Valverde et al. (1986) have examined the double-stranded RNAs generated in plants infected with some filamentous viruses. Of more general interest to the pathologist, and containing practical data on filamentous and other viruses, is the ongoing Disease Compendium series of the American Phytopathological Society.