RECOMBINANT CROTON YELLOW VEIN MOSAIC VIRUS ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE LEAF CURL DISEASE OF PAPAYA IN INDIA.

In this study, the infection of Begomovirus in Papaya (Carica papaya) plants from New Delhi was suspected in area exhibiting leaf curl disease. Rolling circle amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis suggested that a begomovirus was present in symptomatic plants. The full length sequence of a begomovirus DNA component was determined comprising 2745 nucleotides. Pairwise sequence comparison of the virus under study with other begomoviruses, performed using the species demarcation tool, suggested <92% pairwise nucleotide identity with Croton yellow vein mosaic virus (CYVMV). Notably, no other genomic components, including satellites, were obtained. Further nucleotide sequence comparison indicated its recombinant origin. Infectious clone of the begomovirus was constructed and inoculated into the leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana using a needleless syringe, and this resulted in a mosaic pattern and slight curling of the leaves.