tobacco mosaic virus
noun
: a single-stranded RNA virus (Tobamovirus tabaci of the family Virgaviridae) that occurs worldwide and causes mosaic disease in plants (such as tobacco and tomato) especially of the nightshade family
Examples of tobacco mosaic virus in a Sentence
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These letters indicate resistance to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus, and alternaria (or early blight).
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Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 4 July 2025
But their pioneering work on tobacco mosaic virus opened the door to a century of research that has revealed a diverse range of viral structures and strategies for survival.
—Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2020
Scientists were only first able to visualize a virus, the tobacco mosaic virus, after the 1931 invention of the electron microscope.
—Jonathan Runstadler, Scientific American, 11 Mar. 2018
From the story of tobacco mosaic virus, which gave us the idea that something even smaller than bacteria could be a pathogen, to the discovery that the number of viruses in the ocean exceeds the number of stars in the universe by 7 orders of magnitude.
—The Intersection, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2011
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Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 4 July 2025
But their pioneering work on tobacco mosaic virus opened the door to a century of research that has revealed a diverse range of viral structures and strategies for survival.
—Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2020
Scientists were only first able to visualize a virus, the tobacco mosaic virus, after the 1931 invention of the electron microscope.
—Jonathan Runstadler, Scientific American, 11 Mar. 2018
From the story of tobacco mosaic virus, which gave us the idea that something even smaller than bacteria could be a pathogen, to the discovery that the number of viruses in the ocean exceeds the number of stars in the universe by 7 orders of magnitude.
—The Intersection, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2011
Cite this Entry
“Tobacco mosaic virus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tobacco%20mosaic%20virus. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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