Description
Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is a viral species of the Closterovirus genus that causes the most economically damaging disease to its namesake plant genus, Citrus. The disease has led to the death of millions of Citrus trees all over the world and has rendered other millions useless for production. Farmers in Brazil and other South American countries gave it the name "tristeza", meaning sadness in Portuguese and Spanish, referring to the devastation produced by the disease in the 1930s. The virus is transmitted most efficiently by the brown citrus aphid.
CTV is also known to infect Aeglopsis chevalieri, Afraegle paniculata, Pamburus missionis, and Passiflora gracilis. CTV is distributed worldwide and can be found wherever citrus trees grow.
Symptoms of CTV infection are highly variable and depend on several factors including host, virulence of the particular virus strain, and environmental conditions. The three most common groupings of symptoms are decline (quick and slow), stem-pitting, and seedling yellows