Ageratum conyzoides: A host to a unique begomovirus disease complex in Cameroon

• Published in: Virus research Vol. 163; no. 1; pp. 229 - 237
• Main Authors: Leke, Walter N., Brown, Judith K., Ligthart, Maaike E., Sattar, Naaem, Njualem, Dominic K., Kvarnheden, Anders
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2012
• Subjects: Ageratum; Ageratum - virology; Ageratum conyzoides; Ageratum leaf curl Cameroon virus; Ageratum yellow vein virus; Alphasatellite; Begomovirus; Begomovirus - isolation & purification; Begomovirus - pathogenicity; Betasatellite; Botanik; Botany; Cameroon; Cluster Analysis; cotton; DNA, Satellite - genetics; DNA, Viral - chemistry; DNA, Viral - genetics; Geminivirus; Genetics; Genetik; goats; leaf curling; Lycopersicon esculentum; Microbiology; Mikrobiologi; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; Phylogeny; Plant Diseases - virology; sequence analysis; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology; tomatoes; Virus ecology; weeds; Cameroon; Betasatellite; Geminivirus; Alphasatellite; Virus ecology; Begomovirus
• ISSN: 0168-1702; 1872-7492; 1872-7492
• DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2011.09.039

► Sequence diversity of begomoviruses and DNA satellites in weed from Cameroon. ► Leaf curl common in the weed Ageratum conyzoides. ► New species of begomovirus, betasatellite and alphasatellite found. ► Distinct from begomoviruses and satellites from Asia. Ageratum conyzoides (goat weed) is a widespread uncultivated species in Cameroon that exhibits leaf curl disease (LCD) symptoms suggestive of begomovirus infection. In Asia, different begomovirus–satellite complexes have been identified in A. conyzoides. The objective of this study was to determine the identity of the suspect begomoviruses and their associated satellites in A. conyzoides in Cameroon. The results indicated that all three symptomatic A. conyzoides plants examined were infected with a new begomovirus species, herein named Ageratum leaf curl Cameroon virus (ALCCMV). The ALCCMV genome sequences shared their highest identity, at 84.3–88.5%, with a group of tomato-infecting begomoviruses from West Africa. In addition, a betasatellite and an alphasatellite were cloned from the same symptomatic A. conyzoides plants. The betasatellite sequences shared limited sequence identity at 37% or less with the betasatellite Cotton leaf curl Gezira betasatellite, and the new betasatellite species is herein named Ageratum leaf curl Cameroon betasatellite (ALCCMB). The alphasatellite shared 80% nt identity with Tomato leaf curl Cameroon alphasatellite (ToLCCMA), and the new alphasatellite species is herein named Ageratum leaf curl Cameroon alphasatellite (ALCCMA). In addition, two fragments containing begomovirus–alphasatellite sequences were cloned from sample AGLI4, and they were related to the defecting interfering molecule (Y14167) associated with Ageratum yellow vein virus from Asia. These results suggest that the begomoviral–satellite complexes infecting A. conyzoides in Cameroon may be as complex or more so, to species and strains reported thus far from Asia.