title: Molecular characterization and an infectious clone construction of sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) isolated from Korea.
abstract: Sweet potato leaf curl disease (SPLCD) was primarily identified in sweet potato fields in Korea in 2003, and the complete genomic sequence of sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) has been cloned. The genome of the Korean SPLCV isolate (SPLCV-KR) comprises 2,828 nucleotides with six open reading frames in DNA-A, similar to a monopartite begomovirus. Additionally, neither the genome B genomic component nor the DNA beta sequence was detected. The results of phylogenetic analysis using the maximum parsimony method showed that SPLCV-KR is more closely related to SPLCV-US (US) than SPLCV-CN (China) and SPLCV-JP (Japan). A tandem repeat dimer of SPLCV-KR was cloned and found to be infectious in sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) via biolistic inoculation. The SPLCV-infected sweet potatoes exhibited mild leaf curl symptoms of SPLCD, and the newly-replicated viral DNA was detected via Southern blot analysis. Results of biotic, molecular, and phylogenetic characterization suggest that SPLCV-KR is a new strain of SPLCV and is importantly placed in the evolutionary progression from curtoviruses to begomoviruses.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  sweet potato leaf curl virus; sweet potato leaf curl disease; phylogenetic analysis; infectious clone; biolistic infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D053839:Begomovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D027723:Ipomoea batatas / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins