Complete Nucleotide Sequence of Tomato Leaf Curl Karnataka Virus and β Satellite Molecule Associated with Leaf Curl Disease on Sunflower in India

Sunflower leaf curl disease caused by begomovirus is one of the newly emerging viral diseases in Nothern Karnataka, Southern India. The disease has attracted lot of attention of the pathologists, as it affects the productivity of sunflower an important oilseed crop in the country. The present study was conducted to characterize the begomovirus causing sunflower leaf curl disease by cloning and sequencing the major genomic components. The Complete DNA-A and betasatellite components of begomovirus isolated from sunflower leaf tissue infected with leaf curl virus collected from Main Agricultural Research Station, Raichur, Karnataka, India was cloned and sequenced. The virus contained the DNA-A and the associated satellite beta DNA components of 2761 and 1373 nucleotides (nt) in length, respectively. The DNA-A molecule shared maximum identity with tomato leaf curl karnataka virus clone IKH12 (ToLCKV-[IKH12]) (HM803118) (97.13%) and clone IKB3 (ToLCKV-[IKB3]) (HM851186) (96.95%) from India. The betasatellite shared a high nucleotide identity (93.6- 94.07%) with Potato apical leaf curl betasatellite (PoLCB-[IN-CHI: 05]) and Papaya leaf curl betasatellite (PaLCuB-[IN-CHI:05]) associated with tomato leaf curl disease from India. The results indicate for the first time that a strain of ToLCKV together with beta DNA satellite causing sunflower leaf curl disease (SuLCD) in India.