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First Report of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus Infecting Tomato in Bangladesh

Tomato is an important cash crop for resource-poor farmers and accounts for 20% of the 2 million t of vegetables grown annually in Bangladesh. Tomato cultivation is affected by Tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV), which can cause as much as 100% yield loss. Plants exhibiting typical ToLCV disease symptoms of yellowing, severe leaf curling, and stunting were collected at Jessore, Bangladesh during September 2003. The putative virus was transmitted from tomato to tomato by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. In two separate experiments, 100% transmission was achieved by using 10 viruliferous B. tabaci adults for each of the 20 test plants that was confirmed by comparing the symptoms on test and virus source plants. Total DNAs were extracted from the symptomatic leaves, and the putative viral genomes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction by using the Deng A and B primers (1). Sequences generated from these primers were used to design virus-specific primers that were used to obtain complete viral sequences. Full-length DNA-A (2,740 nt; GenBank Accession No. AJ875157) and DNA-B (2,688 nt; GenBank Accession No. AJ875158) sequences of a bipartite Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus from Jessore (ToLCNDV-[Jes]) were obtained, which were most similar to the corresponding sequences of ToLCNDV-(Lucknow) (GenBank Accession No. Y16421) at 95.7% and Tomato leaf curl Gujarat virus-(Varanasi) (Gen-Bank Accession No. AY190291) at 90.6% nt identities, respectively. DNA-A sequences had only 73.2% nt identity with the previously reported monopartite Tomato leaf curl Bangladesh virus (GenBank Accession No. AF188481) (2), confirming the occurrence of mono- and bipartite bego-moviruses in Bangladesh. The virus diversity poses a challenge for ToLCVD management in Bangladesh.

References: (1) D. Deng et al. Ann. Appl. Biol. 125:327, 1994. (2) S. K. Green et al. Plant Dis. 85:1286, 2001.