Pecluviruses (Virgaviridae)

Peanut clump virus (PCV) and Indian peanut clump virus (IPCV) cause peanut clump, an economically important disease in West Africa and in the Indian sub-continent, on peanut crops. They belong to two distinct species of the genus Pecluvirus, in the family Virgaviridae, and are responsible for huge annual losses in peanut, and to a lesser extent on cereals. They also infect pigeonpea, cowpea, bambara groundnut, chili, several cereal and millet crops and grass weeds. Pecluviruses are transmitted by sap, by the fungal vector Polymyxa graminis and through seed in several hosts. Their biological and molecular characteristics, detection, diagnosis, epidemiology and prospects for devising control practices are presented here.