tobacco mosaic noun2 •A disease of tobacco plants, characterized by mottled leaves, caused by this virus.As is the case with tobacco mosaic, the disease has been successfully transmitted by inoculating healthy plants with juice pressed out of diseased plants. — 1920 •Tobacco mosaic virus, an RNA virus (of genus Tobamovirus) that infects plants, especially tobacco and other members of the family Solanaceae, causing characteristic patterns of mottling and discoloration on the leaves.RNA replaces DNA as the genetic material in many viruses (for example, tobacco mosaic, influenza, polio, certain RNA phages). — 1992
