Abstract
Legumes are very important food crops that are widely cultivated for their
high-quality proteins, oils, and vitamins throughout the world. In total, 168 viruses are
officially assigned by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. These
viruses belong to 39 genera in 16 families and have been reported to affect various
leguminous crops in different parts of the world. Among these viruses, TSWV (Tomato
Spotted Wilt Virus), CMV (Cucumber Mosaic Virus), TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus),
BYMV (Bean yellow mosaic virus), and BCMV (Bean Common Mosaic Virus) have
global economic importance. This review therefore focuses on the economic
importance of the abovementioned viruses influencing legume growth and
development by looking at aspects such as viral traits, transmission, viral biology, plant
host symptoms and the options used to control and manage some viruses such as the
CMV (Cucumber Mosaic Virus), TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus), BYMV (Bean yellow
mosaic virus), and BCMV (Bean Common Mosaic Virus).
Keywords: Crop yield, Disease management, Legumes, Plant virus, Viral morphology, Infection biology.