Phytoreovirus

virus

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 1, 2026

Quick Summary

Phytoreovirus is a genus of RNA viruses belonging to the family Reoviridae. These viruses are characterized by their lack of an outer envelope, a roughly spherical shape, and two icosahedral capsids enclosing a core of segmented, double-stranded RNA.1

Phytoreoviruses are known to cause diseases in plants, notably affecting crops such as rice and corn. Viruses, in general, are infectious agents that can cause plant diseases, and control is often achieved by using resistant plant varieties or obtaining virus-free planting material. Once a plant is infected with a virus, restoring its health is difficult.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

reovirus
Orbivirus, Rotavirus, and Phytoreovirus are among the best known. Although orthoviruses have been found in the respiratory and enteric tracts of animals, they are not generally pathogenic in adults. Some orbiviruses cause disease in mammals (for example, blue-tongue disease in sheep); rotaviruses have been implicated in infective infantile…
Read More
Orbivirus, Rotavirus, and Phytoreovirus are among the best known. Although orthoviruses have been found in the respiratory and enteric tracts of animals, they are not generally pathogenic in adults. Some orbiviruses cause disease in mammals (for example, blue-tongue disease in sheep); rotaviruses have been implicated in infective infantile…
Read More