An interspecies recombinant sida yellow mosaic China virus isolate and betasatellite cause a leaf curl disease in tobacco in Hainan, China

Abstract

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is an herbaceous crop. Cigar tobacco, a group of tobacco cultivars, has been recently planted in a few provinces in China. Since its introduction, symptoms including leaf curling and vein thickening have appeared. Here we report a begomovirus, sida yellow mosaic China virus-Hainan isolate (designated SiYMCNV-HN), associated with the betasatellite (designated SiYMCNB-HN) as the causal agent of a leaf curl disease in cigar tobacco (N. tabacum cv. Haiyan101) in Hainan province, China. Phylogenetic and recombination analysis indicate that SiYMCNV-HN is an interspecies recombinant with a SiYMCNV isolate as the major parent and a sida yellow vein Vietnam virus (SiYVVNV) isolate as the minor parent. Full-length infectious clones of SiYMCNV-HN and SiYMCNB-HN were generated, which were highly infectious and induced high pathogenicity with agroinfiltration in Nicotiana benthamiana and N. tabacum. This newly reported recombinant begomovirus poses potential threats to tobacco plantations in the region.