Worldwide they are responsible for a considerable amount of economic damage to many important crops such as tomatoes, beans, squash, cassava and cotton.

Both segments are generally required for successful symptomatic infection in a host cell but DNA B is dependent for its replication upon DNA A, which can in some begomoviruses apparently cause normal infections on its own.

These proteins have functions in intra- and intercellular movement in host plants.

Within this loop there is a nonanucleotide sequence (TAATATTAC) that acts as the origin (ori) of virion strand DNA replication.

These are known as defective interfering (di) DNAs due to their capacity to interfere with virus infection.

One group infecting a range of legumes originating from India and Southeast Asia (informally 'Legumovirus') and a set of viruses isolated from Ipomoea species originating from America, Asia and Europe (informally 'Sweepovirus') appear to be basal to all the other species.

[5] This vector allows rapid and efficient propagation of the virus because it is an indiscriminate feeder.

This USDA document describes a 5-year plan starting in 1992 to mitigate whiteflies.

[7] In countries where these viruses have become widespread such as Trinidad, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and much of Central America, Israel, as well as across Southeast Asia including Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and India, these diseases in tomato and other crops including pepper, and eggplant, can cause an estimated yield loss of 50–60%.

Disease is typically manifested in the infected plant as chlorosis, leaf distortion, flower bud absicion and crinkling and stunting.

In countries where these viruses have become widespread across Southeast Asia including Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India, these diseases in pepper and other crops including tomato, cucumber, pumpkin, melon, and eggplant, can cause an estimated yield loss of 40–70%.

Sinisterra XH, McKenzie CL, Hunter WB, Powell CA, Shatters RG (May 2005).

"Differential transcriptional activity of plant-pathogenic begomoviruses in their whitefly vector (Bemisia tabaci, Gennadius: Hemiptera Aleyrodidae)".

Hunter WB, Hiebert E, Webb SE, Tsai JH, Polston JE (1998).

"Location of geminiviruses in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae".