Bidens Mottle Virus

Bidens mottle virus (BiMoV) is a pathogenic plant virus in the plant virus family Potyviridae. BiMoV is a flexuous filamentous particle 720 nm long and belongs to the Potyviridae genus Potyvirus. Like other viruses in this genus, Bidens mottle virus is transmitted both mechanically by sap and by aphids in a stylet-borne fashion.

BiMoV was first described in 1968 by Steve Christie, John Edwardson and Bill Zettler from the Plant Pathology and Agronomy Departments at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. This virus was originally isolated from a mottled plant of the common weed Bidens pilosa (Fig. 1) collected in Gainesville (FL) – hence the name Bidens mottle virus. At the same time it was also found in pepperweed (Lepidium virginicum).

Figure 1. Symptoms of Bidens mottle virus in Bidens pilosa (hairy beggarticks). (B. pilosa can be doubly infected with BiMoV and a second virus called Sonchus yellow net virus (SYNV). SYNV is asymptomatic in B. pilosa but it enhances the symptoms of BiMoV in this plant when both viruses are present.)