Diseases caused by begomoviruses are a serious constraint to crop production in many tropical and subtropical areas of the world, including Brazil. Begomoviruses are whitefly-transmitted, single-stranded DNA viruses that are often associated with weed plants, which may act as natural reservoirs of viruses that cause epidemics in crop plants. Cleome affinis (family Capparaceae) is an annual weed that is frequently associated with leguminous crops in Brazil. Samples of C. affinis were collected in four states in the northeast of Brazil. Analysis of 14 full-length DNA-A components revealed that only one begomovirus was present, with 91-96% identity to cleome leaf crumple virus (ClLCrV). In a phylogenetic tree, ClLCrV forms a basal group relative to all other Brazilian begomoviruses. Evidence of multiple recombination events was detected among the ClLCrV isolates, which also display a high degree of genetic variability. Despite ClLCrV being the only begomovirus found, its phylogenetic placement, high genetic variability and recombinant nature suggest that C. affinis may act as a source of novel viruses for crop plants. Alternatively, ClLCrV could be a genetically isolated begomovirus. Further studies on the biological properties of ClLCrV should help to clarify the role of C. affinis in the epidemiological scenario of Brazilian begomoviruses.
A novel bipartite begomovirus infecting Cnidoscolus urens (Euphorbiaceae) from Pernambuco State, Brazil has been characterized. The complete DNA-A (2657 to 2692 nt) and DNA-B (2622 nt) components of the viral isolates showed a typical genome organization of New World bipartite begomoviruses. DNA-A of the isolates had the highest percentage of nucleotide identity (88.6–88.9%) with the Cnidoscolus mosaic leaf deformation virus (NC_038982). Based on the current classification criteria for the genus Begomovirus, a new member infecting C. urens was reported, and the name Begomovirus caboniensis was proposed for these viruses, adopting the standardized binomial system.
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