Virology & Mycology
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0517
ISSN: 2161-0517
Sayed Sartaj Sohrab, Muhammad Yasir, Sherif Ali El-Kafrawy, Magdi Ali Ahmed Mousa, and Ahmed A Bakhashwain
King Abdulaziz University, KSA
Assiut University, Egypt
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Virol-mycol
Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) is an important vegetable crop; widely used for vegetables at early stage in central and eastern Asia to South Eastern Asia. Yellow mosaic disease limits the production of ridge gourd which is caused by Begomovirus belonging to the family Geminiviridae. In this study, naturally infected leaf samples of ridge gourd exhibiting characteristic yellow mosaic were collected during field survey from Hadasham, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The causative agent was identified by PCR using Begomovirus specific primers and transmitted by whiteflies to healthy ridge gourd seedlings. The full-length viral genome was amplified by rolling circle amplification and beta satellites were amplified by PCR using universal primers. Sequencing of full genome (~2.7 kb) and beta satellites (~1.4 kb) were performed bidirectionally. The complete viral genome sequences had 2788 nucleotides (KU248482) and showed highest (99.8% nucleotides) similarity with Tomato yellow leaf curl virus Jeddah isolate followed by 99.4-93.0% nucleotides similarity with an isolate of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus identified from Jizan and Al-Qasim, Saudi Arabia. The beta satellite had 1363 nucleotides (KU248483) and showed 99.6% nucleotides similarity with Tomato yellow leaf curl beta satellites Jeddah isolate. The identified virus from ridge gourd formed the closest cluster with Tomato yellow leaf curl virus isolates from Jeddah, Jizan and Al Qasim, Saudi Arabia. On the basis of results obtained from PCR detection, sequence analysis and phylogenetic relationship; it is concluded that the virus causing yellow mosaic disease in ridge gourd could be a variant of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus isolate circulating in the Kingdom. This is the first report about the association of Begomovirus causing yellow mosaic disease of ridge gourd in Saudi Arabia.
Email: ssohrab@kau.edu.sa