• The_v@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The Wikipedia picture is misidentified, kindof.

    So there were two mosaic virus discovered in watermelons. The first one discovered was called watermelon mosaic virus. The second one was called watermelon mosaic virus 2 (WMV-2).

    Now as molecular technics advanced it was discovered that the the first WMV virus was the same as Papaya Ring Spot Virus (PRSV)

    Since the PRSV name for the virus was older, it was kept. WMV-2 then was renamed to WMV.

    So that is most likely PRSV aka the old WMV. WMV (aka WMV-2) rarely causes ringspots.

    http://ncsupdicblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/sample-of-week-papaya-ringspot-virus-on.html?m=1

    • noughtnaut@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You seem knowledgeable in this matter, so let me ask you: is this harmful to humans? What is the harm of this watermelon virus?

      • The_v@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        No it is not harmful to humans. This virus like most others others like it only infect plants. It is transmitted by aphids. So it survives inside of them but doesn’t replicate.

        In watermelons it damages the new growth, especially the leaves. This reduces the plants ability to phosynthesize sugars and stops fruit production.