ABSTRACT
The notoriety of Bemisia tabaci as a pest is obscured by its role as an efficient vector of a large number of important plant diseases, affecting various crops such as cassava, cotton, grain legumes in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world. The geminivirus group is by far the most important, both in terms of number of diseases and their economic impact in various parts of the world. The chapter discusses the basic studies for characterising and identifying the distinct viruses, followed by a brief account of the economically important geminivirus diseases transmitted by B. tabaci. While the leafhopper-transmitted geminiviruses have monopartite genomes, the whitefly-borne geminiviruses were thought to have exclusively bipartite genomes. The chapter briefly describes the more important diseases, such as: African Cassava Mosaic, Bean Golden Mosaic, Chino del Tomate, Cotton Leaf Crumple, Chilli Leaf Curl, Tomato Leaf Curl, and Papaya Leaf Curl.
