African Basil (Ocimum gratissimum) Is a Reservoir of Divergent Begomoviruses in Uganda
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Plant disease
Abstract
Begomoviruses are plant viruses that cause major losses to many economically
important crops. Although they are poorly understood, begomoviruses
infecting wild plants may have an important role as reservoirs
in the epidemiology of viral diseases. This study reports the discovery
and genomic characterization of three novel bipartite begomoviruses
from wild and cultivated African basil (Ocimum gratissimum) plants collected
in Uganda, East Africa. Based on the symptoms shown by the infected
plants, the names proposed for these viruses are Ocimum yellow
vein virus (OcYVV), Ocimum mosaic virus (OcMV), and Ocimum
golden mosaic virus (OcGMV). Genome and phylogenetic analyses suggest
that DNA-A of OcGMV is mostly related to begomoviruses
infecting tomato in Africa, whereas those of OcYVV and OcMV are
closely related to one another and highly divergent within the Old World
begomoviruses. The DNA-A of all characterized begomovirus isolates
are of a recombinant nature, revealing the role of recombination in the
evolution of these begomoviruses. The viruses characterized here are
the first identified in O. gratissimum and the first in Ocimum spp. in
the African continent and could have important epidemiological consequences
for cultivated basils and other important crops.
Description
Keywords
African basil, Begomoviruses, Geminiviridae, Ocimum gratissimum, Phylogenetic analysis, Recombination
Citation
Mollel, H. G., Ndunguru, J., Sseruwagi, P., Alicai, T., Colvin, J., Navas-Castillo, J., & Fiallo-Olivé, E. (2020). African Basil (Ocimum gratissimum) Is a Reservoir of Divergent Begomoviruses in Uganda. Plant disease, 104(3), 853-859. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-19-1675-RE