The begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae) associated with cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) pose a major threat to cotton productivity in South-East Asia including Pakistan and India. These viruses have single-stranded, circular DNA genome, of ∼2800 nt in size, encapsidated in twinned icosa-hedera, transmitted by ubiquitous whitefly and are associated with satellite molecules referred to as alpha...

Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr. (Family: Menispermaceae) is one of the most important plants used in traditional systems of medicine. The major compound in the C. fenestratum is berberine. In the present study, berberine content was quantified using C. fenestratum grown in Sri Lanka. Results revealed that hot extraction method was more suitable for getting high yield of berberine from C...

Traditional tropical agriculture often entails a form of slash-and-burn land management that may adversely affect ecosystem services such as pollination, which are required for successful crop yields. The Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico has a >4000 year history of traditional slash-and-burn agriculture, termed 'milpa'. Hot 'Habanero' chilli is a major pollinator-dependent crop that nowadays is ofte...

The complete DNA genome of sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) from samples obtained from eight regions was amplified by PCR and characterized in this study. The DNA genome of one group (SPLCV Korea group 1) consisted of 2828 nucleotides and that of the second group (SPLCV Korea group 2) consisted of 2829 nucleotides. Sequence comparisons showed that the genome sequences of SPLCV Korea isolate...

China-fir was a key building material used in Taiwan before 1894 and reached Taiwan by import from Fuzhou, China. However, at the start of the period of Japanese governance (beginning in 1895), the China-fir market in Taiwan appeared to gradually reduce as a result of an attempt by the Taiwanese Governor General's Office (TGGO) to develop the market for Japanese timbers in Taiwan. After an inve...

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) was first detected in China in 2006, following the introduction of Bemisia tabaci Q into China in 2003. Since then, the incidence of TYLCV in tomato fields in China has greatly increased as has the abundance and distribution of Q whiteflies containing the bacterial symbiont Hamiltonella with high frequency. This suggested that the symbiont Hamiltonella migh...

Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus Disease incited by Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) causes huge losses in tomato production worldwide and is caused by different related begomovirus species. Breeding for TYLCV resistance has been based on the introgression of multiple resistance genes originating from several wild tomato species. In this study we have fine-mapped the widely used Solanum chile...