tobacco mosaic virus
noun
: a single-stranded RNA virus (species Tobacco mosaic virus of the genus Tobamovirus) that occurs worldwide and causes mosaic disease in plants (such as tobacco and tomato) especially of the nightshade family
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web 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
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 Word History
First Known Use
1914, in the meaning defined above