Detection and identification ofAgeratum enation virusinfectingAgeratum conyzoidesin India

Abstract

Yellow mosaic and leaf curling symptoms were observed on Ageratum conyzoides plants in a survey made during 2007–09 at Gorakhpur and nearby locations of North-Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. The incident of disease was significantly high with severe symptoms. Due to presence of whiteflies in the field, begomovirus infection was suspected. Therefore, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed with begomovirus specific primers (TLCV-CP). Total genomic DNA was isolated from infected as well as healthy leaf samples. In gel electrophoresis an ∼800 bp amplicon was obtained in diseased leaf samples as expected, while no amplicon was found in healthy plants.Amplicons obtained were directly sequenced and submitted to the GenBank with the accession number GQ412352 and a phylogeny tree was constructed with the available sequences in the Genbank. Based on the highest nucleotide similarity (98%), amino acid similarity and close relationship with isolates of Ageratum enation virus, the present isolate was considered as an isolate of Ageratum enation virus.