UNLABELLED Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is the type member of tospoviruses (genus Tospovirus), plant-infecting viruses that cause severe damage to ornamental and vegetable crops. Tospoviruses are transmitted by thrips in the circulative propagative mode. We generated a collection of NSs-defective TSWV isolates and showed that TSWV coding for truncated NSs protein could not be transmitted by...

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and other closely related tospoviruses are serious threats to many agricultural, ornamental, and greenhouse crops. TSWV was first recorded in the southeastern United States during the middle to late 1980s (10,12,16,19,23), with the first collections of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), following shortly thereafter. In North Caroli...

The nucleotide sequences of the nucleoprotein (N) genes of seven tospovirus isolates representing three serogroups were determined and used to establish phylogenetic parameters to delineate species within the Tospovirus genus of the Bunyaviridae. A high sequence divergence (55.9% identity at the nucleotide level) was observed between isolates of serogroup I (tomato spotted wilt virus) and isola...

Spotted wilt virus disease caused by Tomato spotted wilt tospovirus (TSWV) has become a limiting factor in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production in the Southwest region of the U.S. Selected peanut cultivars (Okrun, Southwest Runner, Tamrun-98, Tamrun-96, Georgia Green, Tamrun OL-02, Tamrun OL-01, and Georgia Hi Oleic) were evaluated for reaction to TSWV in field plots in 2001, 2002, and 2003....

Viral small RNAs (vsRNAs) are one of the key elements involved in RNA silencing-based defense against viruses in plants. We analyzed the vsRNA profiles in Nicotiana benthamiana and Solanum lycopersicum infected by polygonum ringspot virus (PolRSV) (Tospovirus, Bunyaviridae). VsRNAs were abundant in both hosts, but a different size profile was observed, with an abundance peak at 21 in N. bentham...

Th e interactions between parasites and their hosts can cause profound changes in host behavior, including changes that can alter other trophic interactions. Th e western fl ower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis is an important omnivorous insect vector of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), which infects crops worldwide and also infects its thrips vector. Here, we show that tospovirus-infected f...

RNA viruses are characterized by high genetic variability resulting in rapid adaptation to new or resistant hosts. Research for plant RNA virus genetic structure and its variability has been relatively scarce compared to abundant research done for human and animal RNA viruses. Here, we utilized a molecular population genetic framework to characterize the evolution of a highly pathogenic plant R...