Abstract

The Potyviruses' Early Life: At the beginning of agriculture, they were the first to emit radiation.

Author(s): David Richerson

Potyviruses are widespread, spread by aphids that are interested in crops, and cause significant crop damage. One of the two largest genera of plant viruses, Potyviruses contains approximately 15% of all named plant virus species. When and for what reason did the potyviruses become so various? The first question is answered here, along with other topics like the 20th-century European plum pox epidemic, potyvirus incursions into Australia after European colonists established agriculture, the likely transfer of cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus in cowpea seed from Africa to the Americas during the slave trade, and the similar transfer of papaya rings pot virus from India to the Americas.