Molecular characterization of a distinct Begomovirus infecting Euphorbia pulcherrima in China

Virus isolate G35 was obtained from Euphorbia pulcherrima showing leaf curl and vein thickening symptoms in Tianyang, Guangxi Province, China. The virus was transmitted by whiteflies to Nicotiana tabacum, Lycopersicon esculentum, Datura stramonium and E. pulcherrima. DNA-A contains 2746 nucleotides, with two open reading frames (ORFs) in the virion-sense DNA and four ORFs in the complementary-sense DNA. When compared with the DNA-A sequence of other begomoviruses, the total DNA-A of isolate G35 was most closely related to that of Ageratum enation virus (79.9% sequence identity). However, the deduced coat protein of G35 is most like that of Pepper leaf curl virus from Bangladesh (94.9% amino acid sequence identity), and the ACl of G35 is most like that of Cotton leaf curl Multan virus-Okra (87.2% amino acid sequence identity). The molecular data showed that G35 is a distinct Begomovirus species, for which the name Euphorbia leaf curl virus (ELCV) is proposed.