Detection of Cotton leaf curl-begomovirus and betasatellite DNA in Weed and other hosts in and around Cotton fields

In the present study, effort was made to identify alternative host of CLCuD-begomovirus and betasatellite based on PCR, using specific primers targeting partial C1 and CP gene of CLCuDbegomovirus and #C1 gene of betasatellite. A total number of 30 weeds and other hosts under 15 host species under 10 plant families were collected from cotton field and its surrounding of Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan, and cotton fields of ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. The CP gene was detected in Blumea sp. and brinjal; #C1 gene in Abutilon theophrasti, Croton sp., Ipomoea triloba and brinjal; and partial C1 gene in Abutilon theophrasti, Croton sp., Ipomoea triloba, Ageratum conyzoides, wild cucurbit and brinjal. These weed and other hosts can act as reservoirs of CLCuD and its associated satellite molecules.