Sweetpotato feathery mottle virus

Yellowing of leaf veins (vein clearing) may be accompanied by distortion or puckering  (S. Fuentes & L. Salazar).

Chlorotic spots with purple rings, and purple edged vein feathering (J. O'Sullivan).

Diagnostic summary

• What you see on plants

- on mature leaves, faint to distinct, scattered chlorotic spots, which may be bordered by purplish pigment in some cultivars.

- classic irregular chlorotic patterns (feathering) along main veins with or without purple margins occur in some cultivars. 

- Increased stress can lead to symptom expression, whereas rapid growth may result in symptom remission.

- on storage roots, the common strain causes no symptom on any cultivar, but the “russet crack” and “internal cork” strains cause external and internal necrotic lesions on certain varieties, respectively.

• Symptom visibility on foliage is influenced by cultivar susceptibility, degree of stress, growth stage, and virus strain virulence.

• Found wherever sweetpotatoes are grown.

• Found with sweetpotato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV) in several countries; the combination usually results in a severe disease known as sweetpotato virus disease (SPVD).

• Transmitted by a number of aphid species.

Taxonomy

Economic importance

Geographical distribution

Symptoms

Morphology

Ecology

Host range

Management

References

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