Incidence and Molecular Identification of Begomoviruses Infecting Tomato and Pepper in Myanmar

Abstract

In Myanmar, yellow mosaic and leaf curl diseases caused by whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses are serious problems for vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers. To investigate the incidence of begomoviruses in Myanmar between 2017 and 2019, a field survey of tomato and pepper plants with virus-like symptoms was conducted in the Naypyitaw, Tatkon, and Mohnyin areas of Myanmar. Among the 59 samples subjected to begomovirus detection using polymerase chain reaction, 59.3% were infected with begomoviruses. Complete genome sequences using rolling circle amplification identified five begomovirus species: tomato yellow leaf curl Thailand virus (TYLCTHV), tomato yellow leaf curl Kanchanaburi virus (TYLCKaV), tobacco leaf curl Yunnan virus (TbLCYnV), chili leaf curl Pakistan virus (ChiLCV/PK), and tobacco curly shoot Myanmar virus (TbCSV-[Myanmar]). Excluding the previously reported TYLCTHV, three begomoviruses (ChiLCV/PK, TYLCKaV, and TbLCYnV) were identified in Myanmar for the first time. Based on the 91% demarcation threshold of begomovirus species, TbCSV-[Myanmar] was identified as a new species in this study. Among these, ChiLCV/PK and TbCSV-[Myanmar] were the most predominant in tomato and pepper fields in Myanmar. Identification of begomovirus species may be helpful for predicting the origin of viruses and preventing their spread.

Determination of Begomovirus on chili plants (Capsicum sp.) in Buton and Muna Islands, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…Several countries have also previously reported the size of DNA fragments due to molecular identification of Begomovirus in chili plants by PCR. Overseas Begomovirus has also been reported in Thailand at 258 bp (Chiemsombat et al 2018), Myanmar at 2759 bp (Kwak et al 2022), Arab Saudi at 290 bp (Rezk 2016), Mesir at 530 bp (Noha et al 2014) and Israel at 438 bp (Dombrovsky et al 2010).…”

“…Some of the symptoms of Begomovirus in chili plants have been previously reported in various countries. For example, light green-yellow mottled leaves in mainland Southeast Sulawesi (Taufik et al 2018), mosaic and bright yellow leaves in Java and Sumatra (Fadhila et al 2022), curly and clustered leaves in India (Shingote et al 2022), yellow leaves and thickened leaves in Uganda (Mollel et al 2020) and narrowed leaves and stunted plants in Myanmar (Kwak et al 2022). Zerbini et al (2017) reported yellow mosaic, gold mosaic, and leaf curl symptoms in host plants.…”

“…Even the severity of Begomovirus disease in cayenne pepper in Jawa and Sumatera can reach 100% (Fadhila et al 2022). In Thailand and Germany, the severity of Begomovirus disease in cayenne pepper is 95% and 100% (Chiemsombat et al 2018: Thakur et al 2018, disease incidence of Begomovirus disease in cayenne pepper in Myanmar 69.6% (Kwak et al 2022). Begomovirus attacks on chili plants in India can reduce production by 42.81% (Shingote et al 2022).…”

“…The sweet potato plant has been identified as a new host for Begomovirus in Malang, Indonesia (Damayanti et al 2019), Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) di India (Simón et al 2018), Sweet potato and cassava di Sudan (Misaka et al 2020) and Pepper golden mosaic virus (PepGMV) di America (Barboza et al 2019). Leguminosae and Solanaceae are the most common Begomovirus hosts (Wilisiani et al 2014;Wang et al 2020;Kwak et al 2022). Weed babadotan (Ageratum conyzoides) (Kandito et al 2019), (Physalis sp) (Lopez-lopez 2014) and Verbesina encelioides, Calotropis procera, Mimosa pudica is the most common alternative host in chili cultivation (Prajapat et al 2014).…”

“…Additionally, Ghosh et al (2019) and Pinheiro-Lima et al (2020) described the Begomovirus host, which is primarily dicotyledonous plants and is spread by whitefly insects (Bemisia tabaci). The signs of a Begomovirus infection on chili plants have been documented in several prior reports as mosaic leaves and yellow color (Kesumawati et al 2020), leaf vein clearing (Kandito et al 2019), thickened leaves (Koeda et al 2018), curly and wrinkled leaves (Noha et al 2014), shortening of the internodes and petioles (Shingote et al 2022) and stunted plants (Kwak et al 2022).…”