Southeast Asian Isolate of the Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus Shows Higher Pathogenicity Against Tomato and Cucurbit Crops Compared to that of the Mediterranean Isolate

The tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) is a bipartite begomovirus (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae) that was originally isolated in India, but has become serious threat to various horticultural crops the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, East Middle East, and western Mediterranean Basin. In Basin, ToLCNDV caused huge economic damage cucurbit (cucumber, melon, squash, zucchini) for which commercial ToLCNDV-resistant cultivars are currently unavailable. this study, full-length viral sequences were from cucumber, zucchini plants exhibiting yellow disease Almeria, Spain. Phylogenetic analysis showed viruses consisted of ToLCNDV-ES strain strains genetically distant ToLCNDV-[BACu-20] previously Aceh province Indonesia. Infectious clones ToLCNDV-[ES-Alm-Cuc-16] Spain Indonesia prepared, isolates agroinoculated Nicotiana benthamiana, tomato, zucchini). Infection rates nearly 100% all inoculated plant species, symptoms consistently more severe with compared ToLCNDV-[ES-Alm-Cuc-16]. For tomatoes ToLCNDV-[ES-Alm-Cuc-16], infection occurred without most plants, only few slight vein-yellowing symptoms. contrast, induced typical begomoviral yellowing curling leaves same cultivar. present study highlights importance screening genetic resources resistance by using intended production area; furthermore, agroinoculation method used will facilitate breeding against both Asian isolates.