FIRST REPORT OF A BEGOMOVIRUS INFECTING MIMOSA PUDICA IN INDIA

Abstract

Mimosa pudica L. (family Fabaceae) is an invasive species with ornamental and medicinal uses (Nayagam et al., 1999), native to Brazil and widespread in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Americas, Africa and Asia, including India. The vernacular English name (touch-me-not) originates from the fact that the leaves fold inward when touched or shaken and reopen after a few minutes (seismonastic movement). During an extensive survey for whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses, samples were collected in Rajasthan (India) from stunted M. pudica plants with small and yellow leaves. The association of a geminivirus with the disease was suspected due to the presence of Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) on the plants. PCR assays using begomovirus coat protein gene-specific primers (forward 5’-ATGGCGAAGCGACCAG-3’ and reverse 5’TTAATTTGTGACCGAATCAT-3’) (Hallan, 1998), amplified a fragment 771 bp in length from symptomatic, but not from symptomless samples. The amplicons were cloned in pGEMT vector (Promega, USA), selected clones were sequenced in both orientations, and a sequence was deposited in GenBank (accession No. HQ876467). The highest nucleotide sequence identity (97%) was found with both Ageratum yellow vein virus-Guangxi (AYVV-Gx[CN:Gx13:Tom: 02], AJ558120) and [CN:Gx68:03], AJ849916) and Ageratum yellow vein virus-[G129] (AM940137). A nucleotide identity of 92% was found with both Tomato yellow leaf curl Mindanao virus and (EU487046) and Stachytarpheta leaf curl virus (StaLCuv [CN:Hn5.4:01] AJ564743). The sequences showed lower sequence identity (80%) with both Sida yellow vein Vietnam virus (SiYVVNV [VN:Han:05], DQ641696) and Papaya leaf curl China virus (PaLCuCNVPap [CN:Gx22:Tom:02], AJ704604). To the best of our knowledge this is the first published report of a begomovirus associated with Mimosa pudica in India.