Alfalfa mosaic virus
species of virus
Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), also known as Lucerne mosaic virus or Potato calico virus, is a worldwide distributed phytopathogen that can lead to necrosis and yellow mosaics on a large variety of plant species, including commercially important crops. It is the only species in the Alfamovirus genus of the family Bromoviridae. In 1931 Weimer J.L. was the first to report AMV in alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Transmission of the virus occurs mainly by some aphids (plant lice), by seeds or by pollen to the seed.
Virology
Structure
The virion has a capsid (coat protein) but no envelope. The icosahedral symmetry of the capsid is round to elongated. The range for the length of the virion particle is about 30–57 nm. AMV is a multipartite virus and is composed of four particles (three bacilliform and one spheroidal) with a diameter of 18 nm.
Genome
The genetic material of AMV consists of three linear positive-sense strand RNAs (RNA 1, RNA 2 and RNA 3) and a subgenomic RNA (RNA 4) which is obtained by transcription of the negative-sense strand of RNA 3. RNA 1 and 2 encode proteins needed for replication.
The public source identifies “Alfalfa mosaic virus” as species of virus. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alfalfa, mosaic and virus.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3560925. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1931.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alfalfa mosaic virus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.