Occidentalis Plants Research Articles

Correction: Exploring the Potential of Senna occidentalis Plant Extract as a Bio-anti-corrosive Agent for Steel in a Sulfuric Acid Environment: A Study of Electrochemical, Surface, and Computational Aspects

Correction: Exploring the Potential of Senna occidentalis Plant Extract as a Bio-anti-corrosive Agent for Steel in a Sulfuric Acid Environment: A Study of Electrochemical, Surface, and Computational Aspects

Exploring the Potential of Senna occidentalis Plant Extract as a Bio-anti-corrosive Agent for Steel in a Sulfuric Acid Environment: A Study of Electrochemical, Surface, and Computational Aspects

Exploring the Potential of Senna occidentalis Plant Extract as a Bio-anti-corrosive Agent for Steel in a Sulfuric Acid Environment: A Study of Electrochemical, Surface, and Computational Aspects

First report of Streptocarpus flower break virus in Streptocarpus hybrids in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Streptocarpus (Cape primrose, family Gesneriaceae) is a genus of plants native to Southern Africa commonly grown indoors for their foliage and trumpet-shaped flowers. In Aoteroa New Zealand (NZ) to date, no viruses have been reported to infect plants of the Gesneriaceae (Veerakone et al. 2015). In September 2022, a plant of Streptocarpus hybrid exhibiting necrotic rings was observed in a hobbyist's greenhouse in Auckland, NZ. High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) using MinIONTM (Oxford Nanopore Technologies), was applied as a first screen (Liefting et al. 2021). Phylogenetic analysis was performed using Geneious Prime 2021 (Biomatters Ltd, NZ). A BLASTn search with 622,847 obtained reads resulted in 3,260 and 4,340 matches to the sequences of Streptocarpus flower break tobamovirus (SFBV) and Impatiens necrotic spot orthotospovirus (INSV), respectively. A near-complete (98.5%) genome sequence of SFBV was obtained (GenBank accession No. OQ970154), which shared 99.52% nucleotide identity to a SFBV type isolate from Germany (GenBank accession No. NC_008365). A phylogenetic tree was also generated (e-Xtra). To confirm the presence of both viruses, leaf tissue was rub inoculated onto herbaceous indicator plants as described by Tang et al. (2013). Chenopodium amaranticolor and C. quinoa plants developed local lesions while Nicotiana occidentalis plants showed local necrosis followed by systemic leaf puckering by 14 days post inoculation (dpi). Nicotiana benthamiana and N. clevelandii plants showed systemic chlorosis but N. tabacum plants did not exhibit any symptoms by 28 dpi. Samples from indicators and Streptocarpus were tested by RT-PCR (SFBV) or RT-qPCR (INSV), using in-house designed primers: SFBV-forward (5'-GTCATCAGCCGGAGAGGTTC-3'), SFBV-reverse (5'-AGGGCGAGTCTCTTCCTCTG-3'), INSV-forward (5'-CAATCAGAGGGTGACTTGGAA-3'), INSV-reverse (5'-GACTTTCCGAAGACTTGATGC-3') and INSV-probe (5'-CCATTGTCCTTTATCATTCCAACAAG-3'). RT-PCR products (across MP and CP regions) of the expected size (357 bp) were amplified from the Streptocarpus sample and symptomatic indicators. All amplicons were sequenced in both directions and found to be identical to the obtained HTS sequence. The presence of INSV was confirmed in all Streptocarpus and inoculated indicators except N. tabacum by INSV-specific RT-qPCR. A further 77 Streptocarpus plants were collected from a greenhouse in Auckland that holds a collection of multiple Streptocarpus cultivars from across NZ and overseas. Twenty-five plants, either displaying flower colour-break (only one plant) or asymptomatic (24 plants), tested positive for SFBV by RT-PCR. All amplicons were sequenced and found to be identical. SFBV was first described from naturally infected Streptocarpus plants in 1995 in the Netherlands (Verhoeven et al. 1995), and then in Germany (Heinze et al. 2006) and the United States (Pappu & Druffel 2007). While INSV has been found in NZ in several plant genera (Veerakone et al., 2015), to our knowledge, this is the first report of SFBV in NZ. SFBV was thought to be associated with colour breaking of Streptocarpus flowers (Verhoeven et al. 1995) but the virus was detected in asymptomatic Streptocarpus plants in this study and in California (Pappu & Druffel 2007). Given SFBV-infected plants were purchased from several sources, and leaf cuttings for propagation are shared among hobbyists, SFBV is likely to have spread throughout NZ. How this will affect production is unclear at this stage.

Phytoconstituents and antidermatophytic activity of crude extracts of Senna occidentalis

Dermatophytes are one of the major aetiologic agents of cutaneous mycoses Senna occidentalis is among the plants used in traditional herbal medicine in treating fungal skin infections and it is shown from literature to contain phytochemicals which are attributed to its antidermatophytic activity. This work is aimed at determining the Phytoconstituents and antidermatophytic activity of leaves and seeds crude extracts of the Senna occidentalis plant . The study is a qualitative study that determines the phytoconstituents and antidermatophytic activity of the plant extracts on some clinical dermatophyte isolates. The plant parts were sampled and were used to obtain aqueous and n-hexane extracts using distilled water and n-hexane as extracting solvents respectively. Phytochemical analysis was done on the extracts to determine the presence of secondary metabolites. The antidermatophytic activity of the extracts on clinical dermatophytes isolates was determined using poisoned food technique. Aqueous extraction gave higher percentage extraction yield than n-hexane extract . All extracts contain secondary metabolites and the extracts showed varying degree of percentage growth inhibition on the isolates. Phytochemical screening of the leaves and seeds extracts of Senna occidentalis revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins and other phytoconstituents. The Senna occidentalis leaves and seeds extracts showed growth inhibition percentage (I) ranging between 9% to 39.8% for n-hexane leaf extract,1.3% to 52.6% for aqueous leaf extract,2.6% to 57.2% for n-hexane seed extract and 12.8% to 61.1% for aqueous seed extract. Senna occidentalis leaves and seeds extract have shown varying potential in inhibiting dermatophyte growth with no extract having 100% inhibition percentage on all the tested dermatophytes.

Proximate, Phytochemical and Antibacterial Properties of Ethanol Extracts of Zeamays and Teiferia occidentalis Plant Leaves from Plastic Enriched Compost Soil in Edo State, Nigeria

This study examined proximate, phytochemical and antibacterial properties of ethanol extracts of maize (Zea mays) and pumpkin (Terferia occidentalis) plant leaves from plastics enriched compost soil in Edo State, Nigeria using standard techniques. In this study, the highest phytochemicals constituents were found in control plants with saponin and flavonoid being the most abundant. However, observable decrease and absence of some photochemical constituent were observed in plastic enriched plants. Thus, the presence of microplastic in the soil may have played a part in the reduction of plant phytochemical constituent and possibly reduce the antibacterial properties of our medicinal plant. In proximate analyses, it was observed that phytochemical parameters such as protein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrate, decreased in percentage as the microplastic concentration increases in the soil.

Inhibition of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) Reverse Transcriptase by Casia occidentalis (L) Plant Extract

Inhibition of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) Reverse Transcriptase by Casia occidentalis (L) Plant Extract

PHAGOCYTIC ACTIVITY OF Telfairia occidentalis LEAVES IN STIMULATING RETICULOENDOTHELIAL SYSTEM (RES)

This study was undertaken to investigate the in vivo phagocytic activity and clearancerates of Telfairia occidentalis plant additive using the carbon clearance assay. Wistaralbino rats were used in this study. The rats were injected with carbon ink through thetail vein while blood samples were collected at intervals though the orbital vein usingcapillary tubes. The results showed that T. occidentals leaves had the ability tosignificantly (p<0.05) stimulate the phagocytes in the reticuloendothelial system byenhancing phagocytosis thereby clearing the carbon ink used from the system of theanimals faster than the control group.

First report of Grapevine Algerian latent virus in carnation in New Zealand.

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) is a popular ornamental plant widely used as a cut flower and in landscaping. In New Zealand, several viruses are known to infect plants of the genus Dianthus: arabis mosaic virus, carnation etched ring virus (CERV), carnation latent virus, carnation mottle virus, carnation necrotic fleck virus, carnation ringspot virus, carnation vein mottle virus and cucumber mosaic virus (Veerakone et al. 2015). In October 2020, a carnation sample with leaf chlorotic spots and distortion from a home garden in Auckland, New Zealand was submitted to the Plant Health and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) for virus testing. Leaf tissue of the sample was mechanically inoculated onto a range of herbaceous species using the method described in Tang et al. (2013). Chenopodium amaranticolor and C. quinoa plants developed local necrotic pinpoint spots while Nicotiana benthamiana, N. clevelandii, and N. occidentalis plants exhibited systemic leaf mosaic symptoms 7 days post-inoculation. The carnation plant and all five symptomatic indicator species tested positive for tombusviruses using an in-house designed generic RT-qPCR (available on request). Direct sequencing of the ~140 bp PCR product revealed the presence of grapevine Algerian latent virus (GALV). To further characterise the detected sequence, forward (5'-GTAGCGATGTATTGGGATAAGGA-3') and reverse (5'-TGCCGACACCCCGAAAGGT-3') primers were designed based on an alignment of the conserved region in the coat protein (CP) of 19 GALV isolates deposited in GenBank. Products of the expected size of 406 bp were amplified from all infected plants and their sequences found to be identical (GenBank accession No. OM891837). BLAST searches showed that the CP region of the sequence shared 97.0% (nucleotide) and 97.8% (amino acid) identity to the type isolate of GALV (GenBank accession no. NC_011535). GALV was first reported in Italy from a symptomless Algerian grapevine (Vitis vinifera) (Gallitelli et al., 1989), and is the only report of GALV in Vitis in the world. Since then, GALV has been reported in Germany, the Netherlands and Japan in several ornamental plant species including Alstroemeria sp. (Tomitaka et al., 2016), Gypsophila paniculata, Limonium sinuatum (Koenig et al., 2004, Fujinaga et al., 2009) and Solanum mammosum (Ohki et al., 2006). These infected ornamental host plants were reported to show various types of foliar symptoms, including chlorotic leaf spots. The GALV-infected carnation plant in this study was tested by PCR for all viruses that are known to infect D. caryophyllus in New Zealand, and CERV was identified. It is therefore unclear if the observed symptoms were induced by either GALV or CERV, or if they were the results of a synergistic interaction between GALV and CERV. Samples from a further 11 plants, comprised of nine symptomatic Dianthus spp. and two asymptomatic Alstroemeria spp. were collected from the same address and tested individually using the GALV-specific RT-PCR. GALV (along with CERV) was detected from all Dianthus plants while the Alstroemeria samples were negative. To our knowledge, this is the first report of GALV in New Zealand, and the first report in the host Dianthus in the world. Given the GALV-infected carnation plants were purchased from a local garden centre between 2007-2020, and plants from this garden centre have been widely distributed over this period of time to various customers, the virus is very likely to have spread throughout the country.

Vegetative Growth Responses of Castor (Ricinus communis) and Senna (Senna occidentalis) to Low Dose Zinc (Zn) Spiking of Agricultural Soil in Kano, Northern Nigeria

The aim of the research is to assess the viability of castor (Ricinus communis) and senna (Senna occidentalis) plants up to 90 days after planting (DAP) in agricultural soil spiked with different concentration of zinc in the screen house. Agricultural soil was collected from Bayero University Kano, at 11° 98ʹ 32.59″N; 8°42ʹ 43.97″E. Soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and exchangeable cations (K + , Ca + , Mg + and Na + ) were determined. Castor and senna were planted in soil spiked with 2 mg/kg, 4mg/kg and 8 mg/kg of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) each. Control plants containing only agricultural soil without spiking with zinc were added and the set up replicated 4 times. Plant height, number of leaves and root length were assessed at 45 and 90 days after planting (DAP). The soil was sandy loam, slightly acidic, C, N, P and K+ had mean values of 0.41%, 0.33 mg/kg, 14.33 mg/kg and 0.39 cmol/kg respectively. There were significantly higher (p<0.05) mean values for height (16.85cm) and root length (17.35 cm) of control castor plants than those treated with zinc at 45 DAP. At the termination of the experiment (90 DAP), senna plants in control had significantly higher mean values for height (29.5 cm) than all other treatments. All concentrations of zinc used in this work did not seem to have much negative effects on the vegetative growth of both test plants.

Naturally occurring Senna spp. toxicity in an Angus crossbred calf

AbstractIngestion of certain plants belonging to the genus Senna in animals can cause a rapidly progressive disease with myonecrosis. Natural senna intoxication was suspected in cattle that were grazing on contaminated pasture. Three calves presented with clinical signs of acute illness, characterised by sternal recumbency and absent patellar and withdrawal reflexes. Senna obtusifolia and Senna occidentalis plants were found in the grazing pastures. Serum biochemistry levels of creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase were higher than the reference ranges. Major pathologic findings included multifocal pale tan and dry skeletal muscle with severe segmental monophasic myonecrosis. Senna seeds were identified in the ruminal contents. A diagnosis of Senna intoxication was made given the clinical history and the compatible clinicopathological and pathologic findings. In addition, Senna plants in the pasture along with the Senna seeds were found in the ruminal contents in the affected heifer.

PHYTOREMEDIATION POTENTIAL OF Jatropha curcas and Cassia occidentalis ON SELECTED HEAVY METALS IN THE SOIL

The potential of Cassia occidentalis and Jatropha curcas to remediate the heavy metals: Pb, Mn, Zn, Cr and Cu in polluted soil was studied. The seedlings of the plants, Cassia occidentalis and Jatropha curcas were obtained and planted in six pots which were spiked with aqueous solution of each metal. The matured plants were harvested and separated into roots, stem and leaves. Standard operating procedures was used to extract the metals from the plant parts. Results revealed uptake of the metals through the roots, stem and leaves of the plants. Cassia occidentalis and Jatropha curcas grown in the spiked soil showed relatively higher values for the uptake of the analysed metals as compared to those grown on the control soil. The order of metal accumulation in the parts of the plant are: Pb, leaves > root > stem; Mn, roots > leaves > stem; Zn, roots > leaves > stem; Cr, roots > leaves > stem and Cu, leaves > roots > stem, for C. occidentalis, while for J. cucas metals accumulation was found to be in the order: Pb, stem > roots > leaves; Mn, stem > roots > leaves; Zn, roots > stem > leaves; Cr, stem > roots > leaves and Cu, stem > roots > leaves. The Translocation Factor (TF) revealed that Pb (1.52) and Cu (1.41) are highly accumulated in the leaves of C. occidentalis plant, while a TF of Pb (1.53), Mn (1.31), Cr (1.27) and Cu (1.19) was observed in the stem of J. curcas. The high remediation potential observed in this study as occasioned by the Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) value recorded indicates that C. occidentalis and J. curcas have vital characteristics that can be used for phytoextaction of the analysed metals.

A Review on Phytochemical Pharmacological and Biological Activities of Thuja Occidentalis

Thuja occidentalis plant of Cupressaceae family originated in Eastern North America and is now planted as an ornamental tree in Europe and Brazil, where it is known as the "tree of life" or "white cedar." It's often used to treat liver problems, enuresis, amenorrhea, bullous bronchitis, psoriasis, cystitis, uterine carcinomas, diarrhoea, and rheumatism in traditional medicine. Due to the presence of essential oil, coumarins, flavonoids, tannins, and proanthocyanins, the chemical ingredients of T. occidentalis have piqued researchers' curiosity for decades. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, antiviral, gastrointestinal tract protective action, radioprotection, antipyretic, and lipid metabolism regulating activity are all examples of pharmacology. As a result, the current study is a compilation of all essential material for T. occidentalis, including phytochemical, biological and a detailed examination of their pharmacological properties.The current review represents a synthesis of all relevant information for Thuja occidentalis, including phytochemical, biologicaland a thorough analysis of their pharmacological activities, in order to promote all of the biological activities demonstrated thus far, rather than focusing on a single biological activity.

First report of association of Ca. Phytoplasma australasia‐related strain (16SrII‐D) with Thuja occidentalis plants showing leaf yellowing symptoms in Uttarakhand province, India

AbstractThuja occidentalis L. is an evergreen coniferous species of high medicinal value with fan‐like branches and scaly leaves. Leaf yellowing symptoms were recorded on T. occidentalis plants in 2019 at Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand, India. Using the universal 16S rRNA and secA gene phytoplasma‐specific primers, the expected amplicons of ~1.25 kb and 480 bp were consistently obtained in ten symptomatic thuja leaf samples. Virtual RFLP profiles showed that the thuja phytoplasma strains were associated with Ca. Phytoplasma australasia (16SrII‐D subgroup)‐related strain by matching the restriction patterns of the 16S rRNA gene. This is the first time a phytoplasma from the 16SrII‐D subgroup has been recorded with thuja yellows disease in the world.

Green synthesis of hybrid silver nano structures using Cassia occidentalis plant leaf broth and their characterization

Green synthesis of hybrid silver nano structures using Cassia occidentalis plant leaf broth and their characterization

Floral and Pollen Studies of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F)

The objective of this study is to investigate the occurrence of poor fruit set in Telfairia occidentalis , despite the prolific production of flowers in this plant. Consequently, the floral morphology of the male and female plants with respect to: pollen viability, pollen size count and pollen size distribution for aneuploids and polyploids were examined. Floral buds from the different ( Telfairia occidentalis) plants were collected and the pollen viability was assessed using aceto-carmine stain. Pollen sizes were measured using a micrometer, and counted. Pollen fertility results obtained using the aceto-carmine method shows that pollen fertility in Telfairia occidentalis is very high with a percentage value of 93.6%. Pollen sizes were 60 to 68µm (54.9%), 48 to 60µm (25.48%) and 68 to 80um (17.64%). The relatively wide range of pollen size confirms the presence of aneuploids and unreduced microspores, as pollen grain size is proportional to chromosome number. The development of polyploidy among the land races of fluted pumpkin in Nigeria is thus confirmed. Keywords: Pollen grains, aneuploids, pollen viability, polyploidy, Telfairia occidentalis . DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-22-03 Publication date: November 30 th 2021

Strategies for formulation of effervescent granules of an herbal product for the management of typhoid fever

Herbal medicines are currently being adopted as alternatives to orthodox medicines for the management of drug-resistant and emerging multidrug-resistant microbial strains of various diseases, including typhoid fever. A herbal decoction, MA 001, manufactured by the Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), has been used for the treatment of typhoid fever for at least two decades in Ghana with desirable outcomes. MA 001 is formulated from Citrus aurantifolia, Spondias mombin, Latana camara, Bidens pilosa, Trema occidentalis, Psidium guajava, Morinda lucida, Vernonia amygdalina, Persea americana, Paulina pinnatta, Momordia charantia and Cnestis ferruguinea medicinal plants. The low palatability and compliance to treatment due to the bulky nature of the decoction poses challenges in its optimum use. This study sought to design and formulate the therapeutic components of the aqueous herbal decoction of MA 001 into an optimal solid dosage form of effervescent granules to improve the delivery of MA 001 as well as increase patient compliance and convenience of product handling. The methods involved pre-formulation studies on the suitability of effervescent vehicles, formulation and evaluation of effervescent granules for drug excipient interactions using high performance liquid chromatography analysis. The findings indicate that the effervescent granules were suitable for use in the delivery of the therapeutic constituents for the treatment of typhoid fever as done with the decoction due to minimal herbal extract-excipient interaction.

Phytochemical screening and anthelmintic activity of leafand seed extract of Cassia occidentelis L.

In present study the ethanolic extracts of leaf and seed of Cassia occidentalis were investigated for their phytochemical properties and anthelmintic activity against Haemonchus controtus at different concentrations (100, 150, 200 mg/ml). Alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, phenols, steroids and carbohydrates are present in both leaf and seeds crude extracts. The study is mainly concerned with the determination of time of paralysis and time of death of the worms. When there was a gradual increase in the dose, a gradual increase in the anthelmintic activity was observed. The least time for the death and paralysis was recorded at concentration of 50mg/mL and maximum time for death and paralysis was recorded at 10mg/mL concentration. The ethanolic extract of the leaf and seed showed a significant anthelmintic activity at highest concentration of 50 mg/ml. So the C. occidentalis plant can be used as anthelmintic drug for the treatment of gastrointestinal helminthic infections after clinical trials, toxicological effects and isolation of chemical compounds.

ВЛИЯНИЕ УРБОСРЕДЫ НА НЕКОТОРЫЕ ПОКАЗАТЕЛИ РАСТЕНИЙ ТУИ ЗАПАДНОЙ (THUJA OCCIDENTALIS) В УСЛОВИЯХ Г. МИНСКА

In large cities a special temperature condition is formed, which is characterized by the increased temperatures that affects the duration of the growing season of plants. A decrease in the relative humidity of the air in the city is of great ecological importance for plants; this is especially noticeable in the summer. In urban conditions, a leveling of winds and the increased turbulence of air flows, which is associated with the planning features of urban development, lead to the accumulation of harmful atmospheric impurities. Smoke and dust content of the air in urban conditions retain up to 20 % of solar radiation, which has an adverse effect on the vital activity of plants. The urban environment is characterized by the features of the light regime, which disrupts the natural biological rhythms. In cities, the soils are exposed by a strong transformation and go through a complex anthropogenic impact. Compaction and contamination of the soil as well as asphalt coating negatively affect the temperature conditions, air and water exchange of the soils, and, as a result, the state of vegetation. The urban environment is distinguished by the originality of environmental factors, the specificity of technogenic impacts, leading to a significant transformation of the environment. Plants are the main factor in the ecological stabilization of the urban environment due to their vital activity, photosynthesis and the ability to accumulate pollutants. In this regard, it seems relevant to study the resistance of various plant species to urban conditions. Assessment of the ecological plasticity of plants and determination of their adaptive potential allows solving various ecological and practical problems. In the process of studying the influence of the urbanized environment on the example of the city of Minsk on some physiological indicators of thuja occidentalis plants, it was found that a change in cellular metabolism manifests itself in an increase in the permeability of cell membranes, a change in water metabolism of plants, an increase in peroxidase activity by 35% and a decrease in catalase activity by more than 1,6 times.

Development of a Full-Length Infectious cDNA Clone of the Grapevine Berry Inner Necrosis Virus

Grapevine berry inner necrosis virus (GINV) belongs to the genus Trichovirus in the family Betaflexiviridae. The GINV isolate LN_BETA_RS was obtained from a “Beta” grapevine (Vitis riparia × Vitis labrusca) exhibiting chlorotic mottling and ring spot in Xingcheng, Liaoning Province, China. To verify the correlation between GINV and grapevine chlorotic mottling and ring spot disease, we constructed an infectious cDNA clone of GINV isolate LN_BETA_RS using the seamless assembly approach. Applied treatments of agroinfiltration infectious cDNA confirmed systemic GINV infection of the Nicotiana occidentalis 37B by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and transmission electron microscopy, exhibiting chlorotic mottling symptoms on leaves. Infectious cDNA was also transmitted to new healthy N. occidentalis plants through rub-inoculation. Moreover, the cDNA clone was agroinfiltrated into “Beta” and “Thompson Seedless” grapevine plantlets, and the inoculated grapevines exhibited leaf chlorotic mottling and ringspot during the two years of observation. GINV-inoculated “Beta” grapevines had serious leaf chlorotic mottling and ringspot symptoms on the whole plant, while relatively few symptoms were observed on the leaves of agroinoculated “Thompson Seedless” grapevines in early spring and only weak ring spot gradually appeared later in the top young leaves. Our experiments fulfilled Koch’s postulates and revealed the causative role of GINV in grapevine chlorotic mottling and ring spot disease.

First report of Ethiopian tobacco bushy top virus and its associated satellite RNA infecting common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Zambia.

During surveys for common bean viruses in Central Province of Zambia in April 2018, symptoms of bushy top, deep green curled branches and patchy leaf chlorosis were observed on five plants in a 2-ha farmer's field. Total RNA was isolated from symptomatic leaf samples using the CTAB method (Chang et al. 1993). The RNA from one sample (CP414-1) was used to construct a cDNA library with the Illumina TruSeq RNA Library Prep Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA), followed by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) on the Illumina MiSeq platform that generated ~3.1M single-end raw reads of ~300 nucleotides (nt) each. A total of 355,885 reads showed hits to Ethiopian tobacco bushy top virus (ETBTV; Umbravirus), ETBTV satellite RNA (satRNA) and peanut mottle virus (PeMoV, Potyvirus) based on BLASTn analysis. The full-length genomes of ETBTV (4239-nt; MT225089), its satRNA (521-nt; MT225092) and PeMoV (9,643-nt) were assembled from the HTS reads using Geneious R11.1.2 (Biomatters, Auckland, New Zealand). The obtained complete genome sequences of ETBTV (MT225089) and ETBTV satRNA (MT225092) shared 88% and 95% nt identities, respectively with the corresponding viral (KJ918748) and satRNA (KJ918747) sequences of isolate 18-2 (Abraham et al. 2014). The near complete PeMoV genome was 89% identical to isolate Liaoning (MH270528). The HTS results were validated by two-step RT-PCR analyses of the five field-collected samples using newly designed primer pairs (data not shown). All five samples gave the expected 988-bp ETBTV-specific and 521-bp satRNA-specific DNA bands while three samples produced the expected 2100-bp PeMoV-specific fragment. The virus specificities of the agent specific PCR fragments were ascertained by Sanger sequencing (ETBTV: MT225090-91; ETBTV satRNA: MT225093-94; PeMoV: MT900843-44) and they shared 98-100% identities with their corresponding HTS-derived sequences. To further probe for the presence of an ETBTV helper virus, the samples were screened by RT-PCR with the degenerate primer pair Lu1-mod-F/C2R3 that was modified from Robertson et al. (1991). The expected 245-bp DNA bands was obtained from all five samples, indicating the presence of a possible luteovirus or polerovirus target in these samples. The BLASTn analyses of the two Sanger sequenced gel-eluted products (MT900845-46) showed that they shared 100% identity with each other and 96% nt identity with cowpea polerovirus 1 (CPPV1, KX599163). Leaf tissue extracts from a common bean plant that was confirmed by RT-PCR to be positive for all four agents were rub-inoculated onto Nicotiana occidentalis and common bean (Sutter Pink) plants (n=5 each) at the three fully expanded leaf stage, with a buffer inoculation as control. Systemic foliar symptoms consisting of leaf deformation, stunting and leaf bushy top were observed on all ten plants, 10 days post-inoculation whereas the control plants remained symptomless. All the test plants were screened by RT-PCR as described above. The results showed that all five N. occidentalis plants were positive for ETBTV+ETBTVsatRNA, the five common bean plants tested positive for ETBTV+satRNA+PeMoV, and all 10 plants of both species were negative for CPPV1. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of ETBTV, ETBTV satRNA and CPPV1 infecting common bean in Zambia, and the first molecular based confirmation of PeMoV occurrence in the country. Ongoing studies are focused on determining the extent of the disease spread and assessment of its economic impact.