Molecular Characterization of two Distinct Begomoviruses from Ageratum conyzoides and Malvastrum coromandelianum in China

Two weed samples, G52 from Ageratum conyzoides and G87 from Malvastrum coromandelianum, showing leaf curling and vein thickening symptoms were collected in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China. The complete nucleotide sequences of DNA-A-like molecules of G52 and G87 were determined to be 2735 and 2745 nucleotides respectively. Both DNA-A molecules have a genomic organization typical of begomoviruses and share 73.4% sequence identity with each other. Sequence comparisons showed that the DNA-A of G52 and G87 were most closely related to those of Ageratum yellow vein virus (AYVV; 85% sequence identity) and Tobacco leaf curl Yunnan virus (75.7% sequence identity) respectively. Further sequence comparisons showed that G52 has arisen by recombination among viruses related to AYVV, Papaya leaf curl China virus and an unidentified Begomovirus species. The molecular data suggest that G52 and G87 are two distinct begomoviruses, for which the names Ageratum leaf curl virus for G52 and Malvastrum leaf curl virus for G87 are proposed. The satellite DNAb molecule was only found to be associated with G87. G87 DNAb consists of 1354 nucleotides, and shares the highest nucleotide sequence identity (68.9%) with that associated with Sida yellow vein China virus. A defective DNAb molecule was also found to be associated with G87