Molecular Characterization of Bean – Infecting Geminiviruses and Antiviral Strategies:

DETECTION OF BEAN-INFECTING GEMINIVIRUSES IN WEEDS

            The development of DNA-based methods for detection of geminiviruses in plants has offered an opportunity to carefully assess the potential of various plants to serve as the reservoirs for inoculum.  Early reports (Gálvez and Morales, 1989) listed a host range for BGMV, but at that time it was not known that the golden mosaic-inducing geminiviruses would subsequently be divided into three species.  Several studies have used hybridization and/or PCR methods to determine the presence of bean-infecting geminiviruses in weeds.  One example will be discussed.  Various common weeds with golden mosaic symptoms in the Dominican Republic were tested for BGYMV by DNA hybridization methods (Gilbertson et al., 1991b).  The following weeds had strong hybridization signals with the general geminivirus probe and no signal with a BGYMV-specific probe:  Croton lobatus, Jatropha spp., Sida spp., Urena lobata, Bastardia bivalvis, and Euphorbia heterophylla.  The legume weed, Rhynchosia minima, gave a strong signal with both the general and specific probe, and is thus a likely host for BGYMV.  Macroptilium lathyroides, a common legume weed, was always considered to be the main source of inoculum for BGYMV in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean Islands.  The sequence of a PCR fragment for the rep gene, the ori region and the cp gene showed that the geminiviruses infecting M. lathyroides are distinct from other geminiviruses. 

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