1Plant Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the International Conference of Indian Virological Society on “Emerging and Re-emerging viral Diseases of the Tropics and Subtropics” at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India, December 11–14, 2007.
Mastreviruses are a distinct group of viruses within the family Geminiviridae that, for the most part, have host ranges extending only to monocotyledonous hosts and are transmitted by leafhoppers. Only two mastreviruses, Tobacco yellow dwarf virus (TYDV) from Australia and Bean yellow dwarf virus (BeYDV) from South Africa, have been identified that infect only dicot hosts. A geminivirus causing chickpea stunt disease (CSD) across north Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia has long been presumed to be a mastrevirus, due its serological cross reaction to TYDV and transmission by a leafhopper vector. In an effort to determine the etiology of CSD in Pakistan, two geminiviruses were identified. The first is an isolate of BeYDV, previously only identified in South Africa, which appears to play no part in causing CSD. BeYDV-Pakistan has sequence features in common with both the BeYDV isolates from South Africa and the other virus from Pakistan. The second and most widespread virus in chickpea across Pakistan is closely related to but distinct from BeYDV. We propose the use of the previously coined name Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus for this virus. The significance of these findings with respect to the evolution, origins and geographic spread of dicot-infecting mastreviruses is discussed.
