DefinePK

Abstract

The largest group of plant viruses is Begomovirus genus. It encompasses round about 100 species. Begomovirus is main genus of family Geminiviridae. Begomoviruses can produce severe infections in several economically important crops all around the world. These are single stranded DNA viruses which are transmitted by Whitefly (Bemisiatabaci). These viruses can cause infection in dicots only. Begomoviruses are divided into two groups. Old world Begomoviruses are existing usually in Asia, America and Europe comprising of monopartite and bipartite genomes and new world Begomoviruses are mostly distributed in the American continent having bipartite genome. There are several DNA satellites which are also associated with Begomoviruses. This review mainly focuses on the classification of the Begomoviruses, origin and evolution of the Begomovirus associated satellites and Begomoviruses proteins functions. This review also sheds light on mode of infection, replication mechanism and Begomovirus-host plant interactions.