title: Low genetic diversity of Banana bunchy top virus, with a sub-regional pattern of variation, in Democratic Republic of Congo.
abstract: Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), belonging to the genus Babuvirus, is the most devastating and widespread banana virus. Banana and plantain are major crops in terms of household income and food security in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite the large area under banana and plantain cultivation in the country, before this study, the genetic characterization of BBTV isolates had only been undertaken for two provinces. In the study presented here, genetic variation in BBTV was assessed from 52 BBTV isolates collected in five out of 11 provinces in DRC (Bandundu, Bas-Congo, Katanga, Kinshasa and Kasaï Oriental) and in two provinces using sequences previously described in databases. Full genome sequencing of DNA-R components was performed, revealing low genetic variation (98-100 % nucleotide identity) among the BBTV isolates detected. The phylogenetic analyses showed that all the DRC isolates were clustered in the South Pacific clade of BBTV. Based on the coding region for the replication initiator protein, haplotype diversity was estimated to be 0.944 ± 0.013, with 30 haplotypes from 68 isolates in DRC. Such diversity shows a haplotype distribution mainly at the sub-regional level in DRC. In addition, the sequence determination from the whole genome of selected isolates confirmed low genetic variation among isolates from seven DRC provinces (97-100 % nucleotide identity). This study strengthened the hypothesis of a single BBTV introduction some time ago, followed by the spread of the virus in the country.
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology - Phytopathology , Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2 Bte L07.05.03, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.|Clinique des Plantes de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: L F T
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Mukwa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food and Environmental Microbiology, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2, L7.05.12., 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gillis
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology - Phytopathology , Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2 Bte L07.05.03, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vanhese
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology - Phytopathology , Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2 Bte L07.05.03, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romay
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR BGPI, F-34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galzi
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR BGPI, F-34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Laboureau
authors.affiliation: Clinique des Plantes de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.|Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques de l'Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalonji-Mbuyi
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR BGPI, F-34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Iskra-Caruana
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology - Phytopathology , Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2 Bte L07.05.03, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. claude.bragard@uclouvain.be.|Clinique des Plantes de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. claude.bragard@uclouvain.be.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bragard
mesh_terms: D052658:Babuvirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D028521:Musa / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: Babuvirus; Banana crops; Democratic Republic of Congo; Genetic diversity; Nanoviridae