Abstract
The Geminiviridae family has become the largest family of plant viruses, with >300 species and nine genera. This classification is based on genome organization, host range and insect-vectors. The capsid structure of geminiviruses is unique and constructed from twinned icosahedral with 110 duplicates of coat protein. The function of coat protein in geminiviruses is multidirectional which helps to cause the infection in wide range of host plants. The begomoviruses is one of the leading genera having similar to 320 species of family geminiviridae. This review comprehensively describes viral pathogenesis, gene function, host-virus-vector interactions of geminiviruses and their increasing diversity. Several species of begomoviruses and their associated satellites are responsible to cause huge losses. Cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV) and Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCnV) are leading plant viruses to infect many alternate hosts. Modern mechanisms have been identified to disclose the hidden aspects of plant genomics. From these mechanisms, genome editing by "clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats" (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) CRISPR/Cas9 has unfastened the fresh vistas for crop improvement and functional genomics. This review will be helpful for microbiologists and pathologists to understand the complex molecular biology of geminiviruses. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.