[1] Member viruses are unique in their induction of pinwheel, or scroll-shaped inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm of infected cells.

[4] Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) was first described in the former Tanganyika territory of East Africa, now Tanzania 70 years ago.

[1] An endemic viral outbreak progressed throughout the Eastern African coastal cassava-growing areas from Southern Kenya, through Tanzania to the Zambezi river in Mozambique.

[1] CBSV and other related virus strains are responsible for up to $100 million USD in losses each year in Africa due to crop destruction.

As with all of the members of the Potyviridae family, the Cassava brown streak virus has a positive, single strand RNA genome.

Scientists have used two specific species of whitefly, Bemisia afer (Priesner & Hosny) and B. tabaci (Gennadius), to experimentally test transmission rates.

Laboratory studies, however, suggest that CBSV is transmitted poorly by B. tabaci and indicates high rates of infection in farming fields can be attributed to cutting-borne pathogens.

The most recent cases have shown a shift from the low altitude pattern of infection of areas below 1,000 meters above sea level.

Evidence has been collected that suggests that cross-protection against a diverse range of CBSD-causing virus isolates can be achieved through RNAi silencing.

The conserved CP gene, which serves multiple functions in the CBSV life cycle, was used as the transgene of interest.

However, the study included two transgenic plant lines in which remained completely immune to viral infection against six unique isolates of both UCBSV and CBSV.

[9] In the fields, it is common for asymptomatic plants to carry the virus and serve as a source of transmission with the help of whitefly vectors or stem cuttings.