Tomato yellow leaf curl Thailand virus-[Y72] from Yunnan is a monopartite begomovirus associated with DNAβ

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that isolates of tomato yellow leaf curl Thailand virus (TYLCTHV) originated from Thailand are bipartite begomoviruses, while all the seven TYLCTHV isolates found in China are associated with DNAbeta molecules. In this study, infectious clones of TYLCTHV isolate Y72 (TYLCTHV-[Y72]) and its DNAbeta were constructed to verify the bipartite or monopartite nature of TYLCTHV. Agroinoculation showed that TYLCTHV-[Y72] alone was able to induce significant symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana, Nicotiana glutinosa, and Solanum lycopersicum plants, but co-inoculation with its associated satellite DNAbeta produced more severe symptoms, which is similar to tobacco curly shoot virus. Southern blot results showed that TYLCTHV DNAbeta could increase the virus accumulation in systemically infected tissues. Thus, TYLCTHV-[Y72] is a monopartite begomovirus, which may represent an evolutionary intermediate between the begomoviruses requiring DNAbeta and begomoviruses dispensable of DNAbeta.