- Worldwide distribution. Present in several Pacific island countries. Only found in sweet potato. The abbreviation is SPVG. It is a potyvirus.
- Damage: on its own no symptoms and probably little impact on yield; with other viruses, e.g., Sweetpotato feathery mottle (and perhaps Sweetpotato chlorotic stunt virus), SPVG multiplies many times normal resulting in lower yields.
- Detection: grafting to Ipomoea setosa, or using ELISA and/or PCR.
- Natural enemies: there are many parasitoids and predators of aphids, but aphids are not commonly seen on sweet potato in Pacific island countries, so their effect is probably small.
- Spread by aphids, infected cuttings and storage roots.
- Cultural control: use planting material from healthy 'seed' scheme (i.e., mother plants regrown from meristems after heat treatments and tested negatively for SPVG.
- Chemical control: Not a method to use as insecticides cannot kill the aphids before they have transferred the virus.
Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds - Online edition
Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides
Sweetpotato virus G (374)
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Summary
Common Name
Sweet potato virus G.
Scientific Name
Sweetpotato virus G; previously it was known as C8 virus. The abbreviation is SPVG. Different strains of SPVG are reported. The virus particles are flexus rods.
AUTHORS Sandra Dennien & Grahame Jackson
Information from Dennien S et al. (2013) Growing healthy sweetpotato: best practices for producing planting material. ACIAR Monograph no. 153. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research: Canberra. 176 pp. Dennien S (2018) Sweet potato virus detection. School of Agriculture and Food Science. University of Queensland. (https://www.aspg.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Sweetpotato-virus-detection-review-2018.pdf). Photo 1 Segundo Fuentes. International Potato Center, Peru.
Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under projects (i) HORT/2016/185: Responding to emerging pest and disease threats to horticulture in the Pacific islands, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, and (ii) PC2011/053: Supporting commercial sweetpotato production and marketing in the PNG Highlands, implemented by the Central Queensland University and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
