Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides - Online edition

Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides

Sweetpotato virus G (374)


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Summary

  • 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.

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.

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