WSMV is a flexible, rod-shaped virus composed of a positive-sense single-strand RNA genome approximately 8.5 to 12 kilobases in length, and can be either mono- or bipartite.

[3] WSMV is semi-persistently[4] transmitted by the wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella), a small, cigar-shaped arthropod that can produce a single generation within 10 days under optimum temperature- approximately 27 °C.

[4] One of the most important management techniques to controlling WSMV is by eliminating “volunteer”, or seedlings from the previous years’ infected crop, wheat plants.

[9] WSMV infects some of the most agriculturally important members of the family Poaceae, including wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, sorghum, and millet; additionally, some grassy weeds have been known to serve as alternate hosts.

[10] WSMV survives year-round in grasses and cereals; its severity depends on weather conditions that favour the winter and summer-growing hosts and the spread from one to the other by the mite vectors.