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.

Deinbollia mosaic virus: A novel begomovirus infecting the sapindaceous weed Deinbollia borbonica in Kenya and Tanzania

Updates to this page

Published 28 February 2017