What is "tospovirus"

n. Any of the genus (taxlink Tospovirus genus) of negative RNA viruses.

The tospoviruses are a genus (Tospovirus) of negative RNA virus found within the family Bunyaviridae. They are the sole group of plant infecting viruses in this family, as all other described members of the Bunyaviridae infect animals. The genus takes its name from the discovery of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in Australia in 1915. It remained the only member of the family until the early 1990s when genetic characterisation of viruses discovered in plants became more common. There are now at least twenty viral species in the family with more being recorded and described on a relatively regular basis. Together, these viruses have been documented infecting over eight hundred different plant species from 82 different families.