Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and Beet soil-borne mosaic virus (BSBMV) belong to the genus Benyvirus. Both viruses share a similar genome organization, but disease development induced in their major host plant sugar beet displays striking differences. BNYVV induces excessive lateral root (LR) formation by hijacking auxin-regulated pathways whereas BSBMV infected roots appear asymptomatic. To elucidate transcriptomic changes associated with the virus-specific disease development of BNYVV and BSBMV, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis of a virus infected susceptible sugar beet genotype.