Ipomovirus
Ipomovirus is a genus of positive-strand RNA viruses in the family Potyviridae. Member viruses infect plants and are transmitted by whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci). The name of the genus is derived from Ipomoea – the generic name of sweet potato. There are seven species in this genus. Structure Viruses in genus Ipomovirus are non-enveloped, with flexuous and filamentous geometries. The diameter is around 12–15 nm, and may have a variety of lengths depending on the species (for single segmented species lengths of around 650–900 nm, or for double segmented species 200–300 nm and 500–600 nm). The capsid has helical symmetry with a pitch of 3.4 nm. They induce characteristic inclusion bodies (pinwheels) within infected plant cells. Genome The genome is either monpartite or bipartite depending on the species. Member viruses have linear, single stranded RNA genome of positive polarity about 10-11 kilobases in length. The 3’ terminus has a poly (A) tract and the 5’ terminus has a genome linked protein (VPg). Member viruses encode a single polypeptide with a predicted molecular weight of 390 kiloDaltons (kDa) which is cleaved into ~10 proteins. In 5'–3' order these proteins are P1 (a serine protease): 83 kDa HC (a protease): 51 kDa P3: