First report of a begomovirus infecting the ornamental plantVinca minorL.

Abstract

Vinca minor L., an ornamental plant with symptoms typical of a begomovirus was found in the vicinity of the School of Biological Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. Symptomatic and apparently healthy leaf samples were collected and subjected to DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction, using universal primers conserved for the coat protein region of begomoviruses. An expected size product of ~0.78 kb was amplified from symptomatic leaf samples while healthy plant samples gave no amplification. The product was cloned and sequenced in its entirety. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool analysis showed 93% nucleotide sequence identity with Pedilanthus leaf curl virus originating from Pakistan. Our results indicate that this is the first report of a begomovirus infecting V. minor in Pakistan.