Frequent migration of introduced cucurbit-infecting begomoviruses among Middle Eastern countries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In the early 2000s, two cucurbit-infecting begomoviruses were introduced into the eastern Mediterranean basin: the Old World Squash leaf curl virus (SLCV) and the New World Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV). These viruses have been emerging in parallel over the last decade in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Methods

We explored this unique situation by assessing the diversity and biogeography of the DNA-A component of SLCV and WmCSV in these five countries.

Results

There was fairly low sequence variation in both begomovirus species (SLCV π = 0.0077; WmCSV π = 0.0066). Both viruses may have been introduced only once into the eastern Mediterranean basin, but once established, these viruses readily moved across country boundaries. SLCV has

SUBMITTER: Lapidot M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4201715 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature