To those that do not study viruses, their names can be a problem.
Most viruses can infect many species of plants but their names are
based on the first host found infected by each virus and the type
of damage caused. For example an important virus in dahlias is tomato
spotted wilt virus. It was first found in tomato causing yellow
spots and wilt symptoms. It does not cause the wilt in dahlias.
Most viruses of dahlias come from agricultural crops. The exception
is Dahlia mosaic virus (DMV) which is limited to dahlias. However,
DMV is related to viruses of cauliflower, soybeans, peanut and other
agricultural crops. We do not know the origin of DMV but viruses
because of mutation, recombination and selection can adapt to new
hosts.
