PCR-RFLP analysis indicates that recombination might be a common occurrence among the cassava infecting begomoviruses in India.
Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is caused in India by two bipartite begomoviruses, Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV), and Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV). Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used as a rapid means of investigating the molecular diversity of ICMV and SLCMV in 38 samples of CMD-affected cassava plants under field conditions in new areas of cassava cultivation, along with traditional areas in southern India. A very large proportion of the samples showed SLCMV, based on a discriminatory PCR between SLCMV and ICMV, reported earlier. PCR-RFLP analysis of three regions of viral DNA indicated that in most samples, although the AC1 and the AV1 resembled SLCMV, as expected, the intergenic regions (binding site for host replication machinery) resembled ICMV more closely, indicating recombination events between ICMV and SLCMV. Results also indicate that the AC1 is more conserved within SLCMV compared to the AV1 gene.
Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, Delhi 110021, India.
Basanta Kumar
BK
Borah
Indranil
I
Dasgupta
D053839:Begomovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D007194:India; D002365:Manihot / Q000821:virology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
D004279:DNA, Viral