Identification of a novel C6 protein encoded by tomato leaf curl China virus

Abstract Begomoviruses cause significant losses to a wide range of crops worldwide, and great progress has been made in characterizing some noncanonical proteins encoded by begomoviruses. In the present study, novel viral protein, C6, was detected Nicotiana benthamiana plants infected with tomato leaf curl China virus (ToLCCNV). Sequence analyses revealed that C6 ORF is on complementary strand approximately 36% reported begomovirus sequences conserved amino acid sequence. ToLCCNV specifically localizes mitochondria. Analysis deletion mutants showed possesses an internal mitochondrial targeting signal. Overall, these data uncover begomovirus-encoded protein distinct plant cell organelles.