Geminiviruses are known to exhibit both prokaryotic and eukaryotic features in their genomes, with the ability to express their genes and even replicate in bacterial cells. We have demonstrated previously the existence of unit-length single-stranded circular DNAs of Ageratum yellow vein virus (AYVV, a species in the genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae) in Escherichia coli cells, which promp...

Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is a severe disease of cotton that occurs in Africa and Pakistan/northwestern India. The disease is caused by begomoviruses in association with specific betasatellites that differ between Africa and Asia. During survey of symptomatic cotton in Sindh (southern Pakistan) Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus (CLCuGV), the begomovirus associated with CLCuD in Africa, was i...

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a major cosmopolitan pest capable of feeding on hundreds of plant species and transmits several major plant viruses. The most important and widespread viruses vectored by B. tabaci are in the genus Begomovirus, an unusual group of plant viruses owing to their small, single-stranded DNA genome and geminate particle morphology. B. tabaci transmits begomo...

Insect-transmitted viruses cause some of the most damaging and economically important diseases of crop plants, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. The geminiviruses, a group of single-stranded DNA viruses with unique twined icosahedral virus particles, are responsible for many of these diseases. Of particular importance are the geminiviruses transmitted by whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci...

Leaf samples from 13 diseased and four healthy hibiscus plants were collected. Total DNA was isolated and subjected to PCR using degenerate begomovirus primers (CP-F: 5′-GCATCTGCAGGCCCACATYGTCTTYCCNGT-3′ and CP-R: 5′-AATACTGCAGGGCTTYCTRTACATRGG-3′). All samples of symptomatic leaves yielded a ~1.2 kb PCR product indicative of a begomovirus. Full-length genomes were amplified by the rolling circ...

Print-capture (PC) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was evaluated as a novel detection method of plant viruses. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants infected with begomovirus (fam. Geminiviridae, gen. Begomovirus) and viruliferous whiteflies were used to study the efficiency of the method. Print-capturing steps were carried out using non-charged nylon membrane or filter paper as the solid sup...

Grain legumes are an important source of dietary protein across southern Asia, but they suffer extensive losses due to several viruses that are members of the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae), which are collectively known as legume yellow mosaic viruses (LYMVs). Despite their economic importance, little attention has been paid to LYMVs in Pakistan and only partial sequences of virus iso...

Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is the major biotic constraint to cotton production on the Indian subcontinent, and is caused by monopartite begomoviruses accompanied by a specific DNA satellite, Cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB). Since the breakdown of resistance against CLCuD in 2001/2002, only one virus, the "Burewala" strain of Cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus (CLCuKoV-Bur), and...