Australasian Plant Pathology (2010) 39, 412-423

S.L. Van Brunschot, D.M. Persley, A.D.W. Geering, P.R. Campbell and J.E. Thomas (2010)
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus in Australia: distribution, detection and discovery of naturally occurring defective DNA molecules
Australasian Plant Pathology 39 (5), 412-423
Abstract: Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) was detected for the first time in Australia in March 2006 in field-grown tomatoes in Brisbane, Queensland. Surveys showed that the virus was confined to south-east Queensland. Virus transmission studies carried out using Bemisia tabaci (B biotype) verified that resistant tomato lines containing the Ty-1 or Ty-5 genes displayed tolerance to infection by TYLCV isolates from Australia. A PCR assay specific for TYLCV was designed and optimised to confirm the presence of the virus in samples that tested positive in begomovirus-specific double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Eight isolates of TYLCV from various sites were cloned and sequenced, and were shown to have near-identical sequences and a high nucleotide sequence similarity (>98%) to the monopartite Tomato yellow leaf curl virus-Israel (TYLCV-IL). No DNA-B, DNA-1 nor DNA-ß satellite molecules were detected using degenerate PCR assays. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Australian isolates of TYLCV separated into two sequence groups, TYLCV-IL[Au:Bri:06] and TYLCV-IL[Au:Bun:06], that showed a defined geographic segregation. Naturally occurring defective DNA molecules containing partial, rearranged segments of the native DNA-A, were present in one isolate. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an incursion of a begomovirus into Australia, and the first report of the characterisation of naturally occurring defective DNAs of TYLCV.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Sharon L. van Brunschot, John E. Thomas, Andrew D.W. Geering, Denis M. Persley

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Tomato yellow leaf curl virus	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	Australia (NT+QLD)