Journal of Plant Pathology Archive

Abstract:

The causal agent of mild chlorosis and stunting of sugar beet in Iran was identified as Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus (CpCDV). The virus reacted positively with CpCDV-specific antibodies in ELISA, but not with antibodies specific to other viruses of the family Geminiviridae (Beet curly top virus, Bean golden mosaic virus and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus). The virus isolate under study (SK-11) was transmitted by grafting and by the leafhopper Orosius orientalis Matsumara to a range of plant species in the Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae, and induced symptoms like those reported for CpCDV. By using a pair of degenerate primers, a short viral genome fragment was amplified by PCR, cloned and sequenced, revealing a close homology to Bean yellow dwarf virus (84.9%-85.3% identity), and a more distant relationship to Tobacco yellow dwarf virus (58.8%). In the present study, two specific primers were designed for detecting CpCDV which allowed the amplification of a DNA fragment of 0.64 kbp. Using these primers, the virus was successfully detected in symptomatic sugar beet field samples collected from the main sugar beet production provinces of Iran. This study reports for the first time information on the genome sequence of CpCDV.