PRO/PL> Tomato leaf curl virus, new species - France (Mayotte)

[Brian Edmonds]

TOMATO LEAF CURL VIRUS, NEW SPECIES - FRANCE (MAYOTTE)
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Date: 27 May 2004
From: ProMED-mail<promed at promedmail.org>
Source: American Phytopathological Society, Plant Disease Notes [edited]

A New Tomato leaf curl virus from Mayotte

J. M. Lett, H. Delatte, F. Naze, and B. Reynaud, CIRAD, UMR PVBMT 
CIRAD-Universite de La Reunion, Pole de Protection des Plantes, Ligne 
Paradis, 97410 Saint-Pierre, La Reunion, France; A. L. Abdoul-Karime, 
Laboratoire de la Protection des Vegetaux, BP 103, 97600 Mamoudzou, 
Mayotte, France; and M. Peterschmitt, CIRAD, UMR BGPI, TA 41/K, 34398 
Montpellier Cedex 5, France. Plant Dis. 88:681, 2004; published on-line as 
D-2004-0401-01N, 2004. Accepted for publication 17 Mar 2004.

In June 2003, symptoms of stunting and leaf curling resembling symptoms of 
tomato leaf curl disease, as well as reductions in yields, were observed on 
tomato plants in the western (Combani and Kahani) and eastern (Dembeni, 
Kaoueni, and Tsararano) regions of Mayotte, a French island in the Comoros 
Archipelago located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel.

The whitefly, _Bemisia tabaci_ (_Gennadius_), was observed colonizing 
tomato plants and other vegetable crops at low levels. Overall, 13 leaf 
samples with symptoms were collected from tomato plants among the 5 regions 
and tested for the presence of begomoviruses using a PCR assay with 2 sets 
of degenerate primers designed to amplify 2 regions of the A component of 
begomoviruses.

Primers MP16 and MP82 amplify an approximately 500-bp fragment located 
between the intergenic conserved nonanucleotide sequence and the first 200 
bp of the coat protein (CP) gene (2). Primers AV494 and AC1048 amplify the 
approximately 550-bp core region of the CP gene (3). 6 leaf samples, one 
from Combani, 3 from Dembeni, and 2 from Kahani, gave a PCR product of the 
expected size with both sets of primers. No PCR products were obtained with 
degenerate primers designed for begomovirus DNA B or beta.

The approximately 500- and 550-bp PCR products from one sample each of 
Combani (EMBL Accession Nos. AJ620912 and AJ620915, respectively), Dembeni 
(EMBL Accession Nos. AJ620911 and AJ620914, respectively), and Kahani (EMBL 
Accession Nos. AJ620913 and AJ620916, respectively) were sequenced. For the 
489-bp sequences obtained with the MP16/MP82 primer set, the 3 isolates had 
90 to 95 percent nucleotide identity (DNAMAN; Lynnon BioSoft, Quebec).

The most significant sequence alignments (NCBI and BLAST) were with 
begomoviruses; 80-83 percent nucleotide identity was obtained with the 
Tomato yellow leaf curl Morondava virus (TYLCMV) isolates from Madagascar 
(EMBL Accession Nos. AJ422123 and AJ422124), 80 to 82% nucleotide identity 
was obtained with the South African cassava mosaic virus (SACMV) isolates 
(GenBank and EMBL Accession Nos. AF155806 and AJ422132), and 79-81 percent 
nucleotide identity was obtained with the East African cassava mosaic 
Malawi virus (EMBL Accession No. AJ006460). For the 522-bp sequences 
obtained with the AV494/AC1048 primer set, 95 to 97% nucleotide 
identity  was shown between the 3 isolates.

The most significant sequence alignments were also with begomoviruses; 
TYLCMV isolate Morondava (EMBL Accession No. AJ422125) with 86-88 percent 
nucleotide identity, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus isolates (GenBank and 
EMBL Accession Nos. AF105975, AJ489258, AB014346, AF024715, AF071228, and 
X76319) with 86-87 percent nucleotide identity, and SACMV isolate M12 (EMBL 
Accession No. AJ422132) with 85-86 percent nucleotide identity.

According to the current taxonomic criteria for the provisional 
classification of a new begomovirus species, nucleotide sequence identity 
in the core region of the CP <90 percent (1), the tomato begomovirus from 
Mayotte is a new species and is provisionally named Tomato leaf curl 
Mayotte virus.

References:
(1) J. K. Brown et al. Arch. Virol. 146:1581, 2001.
(2) P. Umaharan et al. Phytopathology 88:1262, 1998.
(3) S. D. Wyatt and J. K. Brown. Phytopathology 86:1288, 1996.

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[The provisional designation of Tomato leaf curl Mayotte virus leaves room 
for further characterization of the virus and a final decision of the 
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses regarding its taxonomy.

The agricultural sector on Mayotte is divided into subsistence farming and 
farming for export. Subsistence farming, which provides the staples making 
up 75 percent of the islanders' diet, consists of coconuts, cassava, 
bananas and rice. Small quantities of fish and meat are also consumed. 
Mayotte is not self-sufficient and must import a large portion of its food 
requirements, mainly from France. Exports are mainly ylang-ylang (perfume 
essence), vanilla, copra, coconuts, coffee, and cinnamon. - Mod.DH]

[see also:
Tomato leaf curl virus, chilli pepper - Pakistan 20040509.1255
2003
----
Tomato leaf curl, tomato - Australia 20030608.1413
Tomato leaf curl virus, potato - India: first report 20031001.2470
2001
----
Tomato leaf curl begomovirus, tomato disease - India (02) 20010402.0663
Tomato leaf curl begomovirus, tomato disease - India 20010331.0649
Tomato leaf curl begomovirus, tomato - Greece 20010707.1307]
.............................dh/pg/mpp

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