Soybean virus Z: its characteristics and taxonomy

Soybean virus Z is a hitherto undescribed virus of soybeans found in Australia. It has a limited host range, attains a low concentration in plants and has a thermal inactivation point of 65 degrees. It has flexuous filamentous particles with a modal length of 610 nm and forms amorphous inclusions, but no pinwheels, in infected cells. It has not been transmitted by aphids or by seed. Its genome is RNA with the composition G23, A26, C25, U26, and its coat protein weights about 2.7 X 104. This virus seems to be unrelated to previously described viruses of soybeans, and does not fall into any of the described virus groups with similar particles.