Deinbollia mosaic virus: A novel begomovirus infecting the sapindaceous weed Deinbollia borbonica in Kenya and Tanzania
Deinbollia borbonica grows as a weed within mixed cropping farming systems where cassava, tomato and beans grow
Abstract
Begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae) are a successful group of emerging viruses infecting cultivated (crop), and non-cultivated (weed) plants from different botanical families, but few studies have been undertaken to study the role that weed-infecting begomoviruses play in the epidemiology of crop diseases in Africa. Deinbollia borbonica is a common perennial tropical shrub that is found from the coastal belt of Somalia to northern Mozambique. In East Africa, it grows as a weed within mixed cropping farming systems where crops such as cassava, tomato, and beans are grown.
The investigators characterised 4 isolates of a begomovirus that is divided into 2 parts from naturally infected Deinbollia borbonica plants exhibiting yellow mosaic symptoms in Kenya and Tanzania. One finding reveals that additional diversity and reservior hosts of begomoviruses exist in East Africa.
It is partly funded by the UK Department for International Development, a core donor of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology.
Citation
Kyallo M., Sseruwagi P., Skilton R.A., Ochwo-Ssemakula M., Wasswa P. and Ndunguru J. (2017) Deinbollia mosaic virus: A novel begomovirus infecting the sapindaceous weed Deinbollia borbonica in Kenya and Tanzania. Archives of Virology, doi: 10.1007/s00705-00016-03217-00709.