| Sumario: | The white-fly transmitted bean golden mosaic virus (BGMV), which was first described in Brasil, appears to be wide-spread in beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown in the coastal Pacific plains of Central America. In this region, golden mosaic can be considered the most important virus disease of this crop. BGMV is efficiently transmitted by Bemisia tabaci Gen. The insects acquire the virus through feeding periods of 3 hrs. or more, and transmit it to healthy plants through feeding periods of hrs or longer. The vectors retain the virus for periods of up to 21 days. More than 4000 varieties of P. vulgaris, tested were found susceptible to BGMV. Species of Phaseolus endemic to the western Hemisphere, which are closely related taxonomically, to P. vulgaris, were also susceptible to the virus, while taxonomically more distant Asiatic species appeared resistant.
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