Molecular evidence for the occurrence of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus on bottle gourd in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Bottle gourd plants showing disease symptoms of mosaic mottling, chlorosis and yellowing of leaves from two different locations of Tamil Nadu were found to be infected with a Begomovirus through PCR assay with universal primer pair (Deng 540/541). In BLAST analysis, it is identified as Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV). Additionally amplified complete coat protein gene using another primer pair GK ToLCV F/R were sequenced and deposited to the GenBank database (TN MET BoG2 - KM275606; TN NGK BoG1 - KM275616). The nucleotide of TN MET BoG2 and TN NGK BoG1 had maximum identity of 94 % and 98% towards the ToLCNDV reported from Spain and Asian countries respectively. In the phylogenetic analysis, TN NGK BoG1 clustered with ToLCNDV isolate infecting Parthenium whereas TN MET BoG2 clustered with isolates infecting cucrbitaceous crops from Spain. As per our knowledge this is the first confirmed molecular evidence for the occurrence of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus on bottle gourd in Tamil Nadu