Distribution, epidemiology and molecular variability of the begomovirus complexes associated with yellow vein mosaic disease of mesta in India.
Yellow vein mosaic disease of mesta (Hibiscus spp.) poses a serious threat to the cultivation of this crop in India. The disease was found to be associated with two different whitefly-transmitted monopartite begomoviruses, Mesta yellow vein mosaic virus and Mesta yellow vein mosaic Bahraich virus, together with two betasatellite species, Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite and Ludwigia leaf distortion betasatellite. These begomovirus complexes were detected in different combinations throughout the mesta growing regions of India. All the eight cultivars tested were highly susceptible to the disease. The effect of the disease in terms of loss in fibre yield was greatest (around 70%) in plants that were inoculated at an early stage of growth. A regression approach was adopted to consider the relationship of whitefly vector populations with weather conditions and disease spread which explained that different conducive weather factors facilitated the build up of whitefly populations and contributed to the spread of the disease.
Plant Virus Laboratory and Biotechnology Unit, Division of Crop Protection, Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrackpore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. anirbanroy75@yahoo.com
Anirban
A
Roy
Sanchalika
S
Acharyya
Subha
S
Das
Raju
R
Ghosh
Sujay
S
Paul
Ram Kumar
RK
Srivastava
Subrata Kumar
SK
Ghosh
D000818:Animals; D053839:Begomovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000821:virology*; D031584:Hibiscus / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D007194:India; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*