Abstract
Geminiviruses are plant-infecting single-stranded DNA viruses that occur in most parts of the world. Currently, there are seven genera within the family
Geminiviridae
(
Becurtovirus
,
Begomovirus
,
Curtovirus
,
Eragrovirus
,
Mastrevirus
,
Topocuvirus
and
Turncurtovirus
). The rate of discovery of new geminiviruses has increased significantly over the last decade as a result of new molecular tools and approaches (rolling-circle amplification and deep sequencing) that allow for high-throughput workflows. Here, we report the establishment of two new genera:
Capulavirus
, with four new species (
Alfalfa leaf curl virus
,
Euphorbia caput-medusae latent virus
,
French bean severe leaf curl virus
and
Plantago lanceolata latent virus
), and
Grablovirus
, with one new species (
Grapevine red blotch virus
). The aphid species
Aphis craccivora
has been shown to be a vector for
Alfalfa leaf curl virus
, and the treehopper species
Spissistilus festinus
is the likely vector of
Grapevine red blotch virus
. In addition, two highly divergent groups of viruses found infecting citrus and mulberry plants have been assigned to the new species
Citrus chlorotic dwarf associated virus
and
Mulberry mosaic dwarf associated virus,
respectively. These species have been left unassigned to a genus by the ICTV because their particle morphology and insect vectors are unknown.