Variability in geminivirus isolates associated with Phaseolus spp in Brazil

Bean golden mosaic geminivirus (BGMV) is the single most devastating virus of common beans in the tropical and subtropical Americas and the Caribbean Basin. The BGMV from Brazil, named BGMV-BZ is considered distinct from BGMV-PR isolates from Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic because of DNA sequence data, the ability to form pseudorecombinants, and mechanical transmissibility properties. In bean-growing areas of Brazil, samples were collected from beans, lima beans, and the weed Leonurus sibiricus displaying typical symptoms of infection by geminiviruses. Viral DNA fragments comprising part of the rep gene, the common region, and part of the cp gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction, cloned, and sequenced. The bean samples had geminivirus with sequences nearly identical to that of BGMV-BZ collected in Goiania, state of Goias, in 1986. The sample from lima bean contained a new species of geminivirus that induces symptoms similar to those induced by BGMV-BZ and was named lima bean golden mosaic virus (LBGMV-BR). While all sequences from bean samples clustered with BGMV-BZ, the sequence from the lima bean isolate stood alone. A mixed infection with abutilon mosaic geminivirus was also found in a single sample from the state of Sao Paulo. DNA sequence comparisons indicate that the virus isolate from L. sibiricus represents a new geminivirus species, designated here as leonurus mosaic virus.