Reovirales
Author(s): William M. Brown Jr.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Reovirales - plant viruses
The viruses classified under the order Reovirales have been previously assigned to the family Reoviridae, a family which has been replaced by two families, the Spinareoviridae and the Sedoreoviridae. The viruses in both families infect a large variety of hosts and include viruses which cause serious diseases in humans, like the diarrhoea causing rotaviruses, in cattle, in other vertebrates or in insects (see for example the entomopathogenic Spinareoviridae). However, the order also contains several important plant viruses.
Plant viruses in the order Reovirales infect predominantly grasses and cereals. Economically important members are for example the Rice dwarf virus or the maize virus Mal de Rio Cuarto virus. Many plant reoviruses are transmitted by leafhoppers (Cicadellidae) or planthoppers (Delphacidae).
The particles are large (60-80 nm), icosahedral and usually have a double capsid structure. The genome is multipartite with 10-12 segments. It consists of double-stranded RNA and has a total size of 18.2 to 30.5 kb.
The following plant infecting virus genera are currently entered under this family:
