ABSTRACT
Plant Rhabdoviridae group of viruses, infecting both plants and insects, has been classified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses in the family Rhabdoviridae. The family also includes viruses of vertebrates and other invertebrates. Rhabdovirus-like particles have often been observed by electron microscopy without any other information being reported, and in these cases it is uncertain whether or not the viruses are new. Rhabdoviruses have the largest and most complex particles of all known plant viruses, containing about 70% proteins, 25% lipids, 4% polysaccharides, and 1% RNA. Although the particles often appear bullet-shaped in negatively stained preparations, it is now generally accepted that the particles of nearly all rhabdoviruses are naturally bacilliform. The nucleoprotein helix is responsible for the typical cross-striations seen on rhabdovirus particles that have been penetrated by negative stain. It has been pointed out that where data are available, the particles of plant rhabdoviruses appear to be longer but not thinner than those of vertebrate rhabdoviruses.
